LATROBE, Pa. -- The No. 16/10 Washington & Jefferson football team continued its undefeated season with a 21-3 win on the soggy grass of Chuck Noll Field at Saint Vincent.

The Presidents rushed 53 times for 177 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground to improve to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

Senior running back Justin Vickless (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) started the scoring when he went into the end zone from four yards out at the 10:16 mark of the first quarter. W&J had started the drive at the SVC 41 yard line after forcing the Bearcats to punt from their own end zone. The big play to set up the score was an 18-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jacob Adams (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) to junior wide receiver Braydon Toy (Kittanning, Pa./Kittanning) that got W&J to the SVC 8-yard line, which was followed by an offside penalty and the score by Vickless. Senior kicker Josh Hnat (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) added the extra point to make it a 7-0 game.

Saint Vincent answered that score with a field goal after a 10-play, 62-yard drive was capped off with a 35-yard kick. It took W&J just nine plays and 4:10 to stretch the lead out to 14-3 as Adams hit senior wide receiver Jesse Zubik (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth) on a 34-yard score for the latter's 12 touchdown of the season and 49th of his storied career. Neither team was able to score in the second quarter as a steady rain fell in Latrobe while the Presidents took a 14-3 lead into halftime. 

On W&J's second possession of the third quarter the lead was extended to 21-3 when senior quarterback Matt Heslin (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) rushed in from two yards out (with a little help from Zubik) at 7:09. It would go down as the last points of the game, as W&J held the ball for more than 10 minutes of the fourth quarter to wind out the clock. Senior cornerback O'Shea Anderson (Rochester, Pa./Rochester) picked off a late pass in the end zone with 1:41 on the clock to seal the victory.

Adams performed admirably in his first career start at quarterback, completing 15-of-22 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Jordan West (Washington, Pa./Washington) showed well in his first extended action since week three against Thomas More, leading all players with 26 carries for 90 yards. Freshman running back EJ Thompson (La Plata, Md./Thomas Stone) toted the rock 13 times for 75 yards in the win. Zubik went over 100 yards for the 20th time in his career, and fourth this season, with 104 yards on eight catches.

While putting up 349 yards of total offense, the Presidents held the Bearcats to 150 yards of offense, the least amount of yardage allowed since yielding just 139 versus Grove City on Oct. 10, 2015.

Senior safety Luke Merhaut (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) led the defense with 10 tackles (eight solo), matching his season high and marking the fifth time in his career he's hit double digits. Senior linebacker Nick Murgo (Warren, R.I./Mount Hope) finished with seven stops, a tackle for loss and pass break-up in the victory. Senior defensive end Tom Marra (Moon Township, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) equaled his season and career high with 3.0 tackles for loss plus a sack. Senior defensive end Luke Ratkus (Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville) added 1.5 TFL as well as part of W&J's 10 tackles for loss on the day.

The Presidents will play their final road regular season game of the year next week, traveling to Beaver Falls, Pa., for a 1 p.m. kick-off at Geneva on Saturday, Nov. 4.