WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Sophomore running back
Jordan West (Washington, Pa./Washington) rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns to help lead the Washington & Jefferson football team to a season-opening 37-27 win over No. 23 St. John Fisher.
Senior quarterback
Alex Rowse completed 24-of-40 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns, one to classmate
Jesse Zubik (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth) and another to junior
Brandon Barnes (Hagerstown, Md./St. Johns) in Rowse's first career start.
Senior linebacker
Nick Murgo (Warren, R.I./Mount Hope) registered a game-high 11 tackles and sealed the game with an interception late in the fourth quarter.
The Presidents trailed, 27-23 heading into the fourth quarter, but West's second score of the day was from seven yards out and gave W&J the lead back for good at 30-27 with 10:20 to play.
The visitors mustered just four yards on three plays when they got the ball back and Rowse marched W&J down the field which set up a one-yard touchdown run by
Matt Heslin (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry), the first of his career.
The next two times the Cardinals got the ball ended in interceptions, the first by
O'Shea Anderson (Rochester, Pa./Rochester) and the last coming with 2:08 to play by Murgo to seal the victory.
St. John Fisher led by a 7-0 count after one quarter by way of a three-yard Ryan Ingerson touchdown 10:40 into play. The first 15 minute period was dominated by the Cardinals, who out-gained W&J, 155-24, and held the ball for 11:17.
The first play of the second quarter saw the Joshua Michels hit James Chambers for a 24-yard touchdown to push the SJFC lead to 14-0 at 14:53 of the frame. A W&J three-and-out ensued, but senior
John Loper (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) jumped on a fumble on St. John Fisher's first play to give W&J the ball back in Fisher territory. The Presidents converted the turnover into three points as freshman kicker
Mauricio Garibay (Hickory Hills, Ill./Saint Lawrence) booted a 28-yard field goal in his debut to get W&J on the board, 14-3.
The Cardinals missed a field goal on their next possession, which led to W&J driving 77 yards in eight plays as Rowse hit Barnes for the first touchdown of the year, a 19-yarder, to bring W&J within 14-10.
The defense settled in at that point, forcing a three-and-out, which was followed by senior
Luke Merhaut (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) returning the 31-yard punt 30 yards to the Fisher 28. Seven plays later, Zubik caught his first score of the season, and 38th of his career, to give W&J its first lead of 2017, 16-14, after the PAT was missed.
A muffed punt gave the Cardinals the ball at the W&J 26 after their next possession, but the defense held firm, forcing a second missed field goal by the visiting team which allowed W&J to maintain the lead into the locker room.
The second play from scrimmage on W&J's first possession of the second half saw West race 52 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 23-14. It was the longest rushing touchdown for the Presidents since Ryan Ruffing ripped off a 63-yard score at Thiel on Nov. 8, 2014.
Barnes led W&J with career highs of six catches for 67 yards, while
Cody Hearst (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) snagged four balls for 55 yards and Zubik had four receptions for 49 yards.
Defensively, Merhaut finished second on the team with nine tackles (six solo), and
Tom Marra (Moon Township, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) was one of four Presidents with seven stops, highlighted by 3.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Loper also had seven tackles, with 2.0 going for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Zach Royba (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) and
Brendan Reddy (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) each collected seven tackles, with Reddy adding a TFL.
Freddie McKissick (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton) and
Jeffrey Oxner (Silver Spring, Md./The Bullis School) both recorded 1.0 of W&J's five sacks.
The Presidents will travel to Grove City on Saturday, Sept. 9 for a 1:30 p.m. kick off in Mercer County. Due to the Presidents' Athletic Conference's unbalanced schedule for one more year, the game will not count toward the league standings.
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