WASHINGTON, Pa. -- In the final scheduled meeting on the gridiron between No. 18 Washington & Jefferson and Thomas More, the Presidents went to the air for 482 yards en route to a 37-29 win under the lights at Cameron Stadium.
Senior quarterback
Alex Rowse (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) completed 32-of-46 passes for 482 yards and six touchdowns, all of which went to senior wide receiver
Jesse Zubik (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth), who finished with 11 receptions for 322 yards and six scores, shattering previous W&J and Presidents' Athletic Conference records in the process.
Trailing 10-0 after one quarter, Rowse and Zubik hooked up twice from 29 and 77 yards to give W&J a 12-10 lead midway through the period. The Saints made a field goal with under two minutes left in the half and held a 13-12 lead at intermission, as both teams turned the ball over twice in the opening 30 minutes.
Rowse dialed up Zubik's number for three scores in the third quarter as the Presidents scored all 19 points of the period to open up a 31-13 lead. Zubik's scores came from 16, 57 and 69 yards.
Thomas More scored a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter and added another touchdown at 10:01 to get within 31-26. With 5:27 remaining, Zubik once again found pay dirt, this time from 37 yards out, 37-26. TMC would kick a field goal with 2:06 to play to make it a one-possession game, 37-29, but W&J recovered the on-side kick and was able to run out the clock.
The previous W&J and PAC records for receiving touchdowns in a game were four, by a host of people. It now belongs to Zubik and his six scores. Zubik became the first receiver in conference history to go over 300 yards in a game, toppling the mark of 283 set in 2003 by Thiel's Brandon Chambers against Bluffton. The W&J senior pass catcher previously was tied atop the W&J list with Todd Fry after recording 235 yards against Bethany last year. The 322 yards also stands as the most single-game yards in the country among all NCAA divisions this season.
Rowse's 482 yards through the air established a new single-game yardage record for W&J, and the third-largest total in PAC history and in Division III this season. It was just the fifth 400-plus yard passing game in W&J history. In total seven Presidents caught at least one pass, with
Brandon Barnes (Hagerstown, Md./St. John's Prep) hauling in six catches for 45 yards.
On the day, W&J outgained TMC, 526-469, but the Saints held a 287-44 advantage in rushing yards, while the Presidents threw for 300 more yards (482-182).
W&J committed four turnovers to Thomas More's three. In the 13 all-time meetings between the two teams, it marks the first time that the team with a negative turnover margin won the game.
Eight Presidents recorded at least five tackles, with
Nick Murgo (Warren, R.I./Mount Hope) leading the way with a game-high 11 tackles (eight solo), the 20th time in his career in double digits. He also posted a tackle for loss and interception.
O'Shea Anderson (Rochester, Pa./Rochester) and
Luke Merhaut (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) both made eight tackles, including seven solo, with Anderson also tallying a TFL and three pass break-ups.
Zach Walker (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) and
Zach Royba (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) both added interceptions in the win.
W&J improves to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the PAC. Thomas More, which dropped back-to-back games for the first time since 2012, falls to 1-2 this year and 0-1 in the league.
The Presidents will be idle next week before welcoming Thiel to Cameron Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29 for a 1 p.m. kick-off. The game will be Youth Day, where any youth in their youth team jersey will be admitted free and welcomed on the W&J sideline during pre-game warmups.
Watch Zubik's final five touchdowns below:
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