CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. – No. 20 Thomas More scored 21 points off of three turnovers by No. 23 Washington & Jefferson as the Saints took down the Presidents, 35-9.
 
Both teams move to 2-1 on the season, with W&J now 0-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. It is the first time the Presidents have lost the conference opener since dropping a 38-35 overtime decision against Thiel in 2005.
 
W&J scored first and last, but the Saints rolled off five touchdowns in between. After a Ted Ford (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton) 23-yard field goal opened the scoring at the 9:13 mark of the first quarter, the W&J defense kept the Saints offense down, as it did for much of the first half. The only touchdown of the first half came when Rodderick Darden picked up a fumble by Pete Coughlin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and returned it 35 yards for a score with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter.
 
The two teams, who entered the game averaging a combined 100+ points per game, scored 10 points in the first half and accounted for just 246 yards of total offense as the defenses proved ready.
 
TMC scored on their first drive of the second half after forcing a W&J three-and-out on the opening drive of the half, 14-3. They scored just 2:13 later on a 16-yard TD rush by Hjavier Pitts one play after an interception thrown by Coughlin.
 
Another interception on the ensuing drive once again led to a Saints touchdown, moving the score to 28-3 after 45 minutes.
 
Thomas More stretched the lead to 35-9 at 9:01 of the fourth quarter, but W&J got on the board for the final score of the day at 8:34 when Coughlin hit Jesse Zubik (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth) for a 62-yard catch and run. The two-point conversion attempt failed and W&J trailed by the final margin of 35-9.
 
The Saints ran 26 more offensively plays (84-58) and posted 244 more yards of total offense (448-204) while maintaining a 38:58-21:02 gap in time of possession.
 
Nick Murgo (Warren, R.I./Mount Hope) recorded a game-high 14 tackles and matched the game best with 3.0 tackles for loss. Luke Merhaut (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and Zach Walker (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) each registered 10 tackles. Torre Carr (North Strabane, Pa./Canon-McMillan) notched five tackles, including 1.5 TFL.
 
The Presidents will be idle next weekend before traveling to Greenville, Pa. for a 3 p.m. match at Thiel on Saturday, Oct. 1.