Washington & Jefferson Knocks Off Westminster 21-14

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Shane Lux | October 5, 2024

New Wilmington – Kobe Derosa’s 1-yard touchdown run with 11:43 to play proved the difference as Washington & Jefferson earned a 21-14 victory over Westminster Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field.

Washington & Jefferson suffered a heartbreaking 30-27 overtime loss against #15 Carnegie Mellon a week ago. In that game, the Presidents surrendered a 24-5 halftime lead.

“I don’t want last week’s game to define us,” said Washington & Jefferson head coach Mike Sirianni. “We could say what if, what if we would have hung on, what if we wouldn’t have had two field goals blocked. But we want what’s going to come forward to define us. That’s a win, and we got one today. We know it will be tough, but we can get a couple more big ones and keep ourselves in the race. It will be a five team race, I don’t want to hear four-team races. Westminster is every bit as good as those other four.”

On Saturday, Washington & Jefferson again built an early lead, only to see the Titans claw their way back into the contest. This time, there would be no such collapse, as the Presidents went on a 9-play 82-yard drive capped off by Kobe Derosa’s 1-yard run, breaking a 14-14 tie.

“We just wanted to lean on the guys we’ve been working with this whole time,” said quarterback Jake Pugh. “We finally established the running game, which we were trying to do. I told the coaches we must keep pounding the ball because they’re trying to take me out of the game. We have three great backs that were all carrying the ball well. When we had to throw it, we had great guys outside who made life much easier.”

Kobe Derosa 1 yd run, Washington & Jefferson 21 Westminster 14, 11:33 4th @WJFootball @PAC_Athletics pic.twitter.com/lHHoEHxmBw

— Shane Lux (@PFN_Luxy) October 5, 2024

On the drive, tailback Owen Petrisek had gains of 30 and 11 yards, while quarterback Jake Pugh connected with Anthony Rosati for seven yards on a 3rd-and-3 from their 25-yard line.

“We’re a run pass-run team, and they were daring us to hand it off, and we weren’t,” Sirianni said. “We started doing that; then we started getting some good runs. That’s my fault for not doing that earlier in the game. ”

Petrisek rushed for 96 yards on 16 carries, while Pugh completed 26-of-40 passes for 248 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.

“It feels great, beating a really great team,” said Pugh. “They have great players over there and a great coach. We knew it was going to be tough. This game was a perfect situation from which to bounce back. To regain our confidence.”

Jacob Macosko caught eight passes for 119 yards for the Presidents.

Westminster, which struggled to move the football consistently, tied the game following Lamont Austin’s interception at the President’s 42-yard line with 3:18 to play in the third quarter.

When faced with a fourth-and-1, running back Ryan Gomes busted loose down the near sideline for a 33-yard touchdown.

Gomes rushed for a team-high 73 yards on ten carries to lead the Titans.

Washington & Jefferson’s defense forced a punt on the following drive before turning the Titans over on downs at their 37-yard line with 1:31 to play.

The Titans got the football back at their 20-yard line with 31 seconds to play but could only reach their 30-yard line before time ran out.

The Presidents jumped out to a 14-0 after a quarter thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Jake Pugh.

“It was good and obviously huge to get that lead,” Sirianni said. “But then we make another special teams mistake, and let them right back into the game. We have to get that fixed. Last week, special team mistakes killed us, and we can’t let that happen.”

Following the opening kickoff, Washington & Jefferson drove 70 yards in 13 plays, capped off by Pugh’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Zach Cernuto.

Pugh threw a 33-yard touchdown on their succeeding position to John Peduzzi following a 79-yard drive, putting Washington & Jefferson ahead 14-0.

“We have one of the best defenses in the country, so anytime you can possess the ball and give them rest and keep them on the sideline by driving down the field like that, it’s huge,” Pugh said. “When we can get them the lead, they’ll hold on to it most of the time. Our defense was outstanding again today, but we made an unfortunate mistake on special teams. But we just wanted to get a lead and let those guys take care of business.”

John Peduzzi 33 yd TD from Pugh, Washington Jefferson 14 Westminster 0, 1:02 1st, @WJFootball @Jake_Pugh12 @PAC_Athletics pic.twitter.com/p1RfbAYPcq

— Shane Lux (@PFN_Luxy) October 5, 2024

The Titans got back into the game when Brite Cannon blocked and returned a punt 35 yards for a touchdown at the 9:29 mark of the first half.

Brite Cannon after scoring for the Titans. Photo by Cory Byknish.

Washington & Jefferson will look to keep the momentum going when they host Geneva next Saturday afternoon, and Westminster will look to bounce back when they travel to Bethany next Saturday.

Game Highlights: