Ryan Ruffing has had a fantastic first season as the primary running back for Washington and Jefferson. W&J athletics photo

Ryan Ruffing went into the season prepared to seize the opportunity to be the starting running back for Washington and Jefferson.

With the regular season in the books and the playoffs on the horizon for the Presidents, Ruffing has made the most of it. The junior has rushed for 1,505 yards and 24 touchdowns in 10 games, establishing himself as one of the top running backs in the nation.

Ruffing ranks fourth in the country in rushing yards and is only the third player in school history to run for more than 1,500 yards in a season. He was named a first-team All-PAC selection this week as well.

“I worked hard in the offseason and expected to play well,” Ruffing said. “I didn’t think things would go as well as they have, but I owe a lot of credit to the offensive line. They open up holes for me and the receivers do a great job of blocking on the perimeter. They have played a big part in my success.”

W&J coach Mike Sirianni, the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season, isn’t surprised by what Ruffing has accomplished.

“We knew what he was capable of doing,” Sirianni said. “He’s worked very hard to be a great player and it’s paid off. He’s having the kind of season we knew he could have this year.”

Ruffing, who churned out 391 yards in his first two seasons, played behind Dion Wiegand as a freshman and sophomore. He said it proved to be a valuable learning experience.

“It was good learning experience for me,” Ruffing said. “It took some time to adjust to the speed of the game when I first got here, but Dion helped me out a great deal. He was a great leader.”

Ruffing has done his best to be a leader as well, and what he hopes to do this week is help lead the Presidents to an opening round playoff victory over Wittenberg on the road.

W&J goes into the postseason stinging from a 31-28 overtime loss to rival Waynesburg, a setback that ended the Presidents’ shot at a 10-0 regular season.

But that loss is history as far as Ruffing is concerned.

“It’s behind us. There is no looking back,” Ruffing said. “We have to get ready for a big playoff game. Wittenberg has a good football team and we’re excited about the challenge of playing them. We know we have to prepare hard to be ready for it.”

W&J and Wittenberg are two of the winningest programs in NCAA Division III history. The Presidents rank third in wins with 706. The Tigers are second with 736.

Sirianni said this matchup is the one that should have taken place in the postseason a year ago. Instead, the Presidents faced Mount Union and lost 34-20.

“Honestly, I was hoping for this matchup last year,” Sirianni said. “Both teams are very good and lost a lot of players from last year. But we both found a way back in. Our focus is on trying to win a playoff game. It’s been awhile since we’ve done that here.”

Ryan Ruffing has rushed for at least 111 yards in every game this season for the Presidents. W&J athletics photo

The Presidents are back in the postseason despite losing several key players to graduation. W&J, which wasn’t picked to win the PAC championship, is averaging 548.2 yards per game and allowing only 324.1.

Pete Coughlin has thrown for 2,923 yards and 29 touchdowns while receivers Daniel Lis and Jesse Zubik have combined to catch 16 touchdown passes. Both players have 766 receiving yards apiece, with Lis making 65 catches and Zubik tallying 49 receptions.

Jared Pratt has led the defense with 103 tackles.

“Our defense has gotten better throughout the year and our quarterback has played well, too,” Sirianni said. “We’ve also had good play from our offensive line.”

Ruffing said he never doubted the Presidents’ ability to make another run at the conference title. Now, it’s time to make the most of the opportunity in front of them.

“We have a good tradition here, and we wanted to keep it going this year,” Ruffing said. “We felt confident that we could have a good season, and now that we are in the playoffs, we want to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Familiar spot

Mount Union won the Ohio Athletic Conference championship for the 23rd consecutive season on Saturday, holding off John Carroll 31-24 in the regular season finale for both teams.

It was the 26th title overall in program history and Mount Union’s regular season win streak stands at 93 games.

The Purple Raiders, who led 24-7 at the half, took the lead for good on Bradley Mitchell’s 8-yard touchdown run with 1:12 to play. The Blue Streaks drove to the 7-yard line of Mount Union before time expired.

The game was played in front of a stadium-record crowd in Alliance as 9,937 were on hand to watch two of the best teams in the country square off.

Mitchell helped pave the way as he scored two touchdowns and finished with 60 yards. The total put him over 1,000 for the season.

Mitchell is Mount Union’s leading rusher. The sophomore has churned out 1,009 yards and has scored 18 touchdowns for an offense that is cranking out 597 yards per game. But the Purple Raiders finished with only 397 on Saturday while allowing John Carroll to roll up 498 yards. The Blue Streaks were also the first team to score more than 17 against Mount Union this season.

Despite the loss, John Carroll did secure a playoff berth for the second consecutive season. It will play Centre in the opening round on Saturday. Mount Union hosts Adrian this weekend.

Dominant dogs

On the road against a rival with a conference championship on the line, the Adrian Bulldogs rose to the occasion on Saturday, rolling to a 40-7 win over Trine.

Both teams came in at 4-1 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play, but it was Adrian that dominated the day as it won the title and punched a ticket to the postseason.

The Bulldogs rolled up 513 yards en route to winning their 11th conference championship in program history. This will be their fourth playoff appearance, the first since 2012, and they will be gunning for their first ever postseason win.

Quarterback Aaron Tenney turned in one of his best performances of the season. He completed 15 of his 22 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for three scores.

The senior signal caller has thrown for 1,704 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for 108 yards and nine touchdowns. The Bulldogs are averaging 394.9 yards per game.

Perfect Tigers

Wittenberg capped off an unbeaten run to the North Coast Athletic Conference championship on Saturday with 52-21 win over Allegheny.

On the heels of an emotional win over rival Wabash a week ago, the Tigers showed no signs of a letdown as they dominated the Gators to win their fifth title in the last six years and their 13th overall. Wittenberg has won its last 22 conference games and is headed to the postseason for the 17th time.

The Tigers will host Washington and Jefferson in the opening round on Saturday.

Caden Leichty helped fuel the strong defensive effort, racking up a team-best nine tackles as the Tigers limited the Gators to 230 yards of offense.

The senior linebacker has come through with 33 tackles and has come a long way since his freshman season when he played on the junior varsity. Leichty made seven tackles as a sophomore and racked up 29 tackles last season.

Ringing the bell

For the sixth consecutive year, Wabash emerged as the winner in the Monon Bell game against DePauw, rolling to a 27-3 win over the rival Tigers to maintain possession of the 300-pound trophy.

More importantly, the Little Giants earned a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2011.

Cody Buresh helped lead the way for Wabash. The senior linebacker racked up three sacks and finished with seven tackles. His three sacks gave him 32 on the season, breaking the old school record of 30 set by Darryl Kennon in 2009.

Buresh and the rest of the Wabash defense limited DePauw to just six first downs and only 151 yards, including only 40 on the ground.

Buresh has racked up 55 tackles and 11 sacks this season for a defense that is allowing just 214.6 yards per game.

The Little Giants will face Franklin in the opening round of the playoffs on Saturday. Wabash is making its eighth postseason appearance in program history.