WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The No. 25 Presidents never trailed as they stormed past No. 24/20 Thomas More, 51-28, in a battle of Presidents' Athletic Conference titans.
Sophomore quarterback Pete Coughlin tied the school record with six touchdown passes and also tossed for 383 yards, the highest passing total in the PAC this season. Junior wide receiver Daniel Lis caught nine passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns, establishing career highs in all three categories.
The Saints (3-2, 2-1) won the coin toss and elected to receive. The W&J defense held Thomas More to just 27 yards on six plays before forcing a punt. On the Presidents' first drive, Coughlin completed five-of-seven passes, including a 35-yard TD strike to Lis to open the scoring, 7-0.
TMC's Domonique Hayden, the number two rusher in the nation entering the game, went 49 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the ensuing drive to the game, 7-7, less than seven minutes into the game.
W&J (4-0, 2-0) didn't need long to take the lead back, however. The drive started with a six-yard completion to Lis and then five-straight running plays (one ended in a holding penalty and didn't count) before Coughlin found freshman Jesse Zubik for 49 yards and a touchdown as the Presidents went back on top, 14-7.
A strip sack by junior Jon Turner at the TMC 16 yard line was recovered by sophomore Ryan Torrance at the 10 yard line and advanced to the six yard line. The Saints defense held and sophomore Blake Davis converted the 24-yard field goal attempt, 17-7, with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
W&J held Thomas More and received the ball with 26 seconds left in the period. It took nine plays and 2:57 for W&J to go 77 yards that was capped by a nine-yard Coughlin pass to junior Michael Giampole, 24-7.
It took just 1:01 for the Saints to answer when Jensen Gebhardt threw a 72 yard touchdown pass to Bobby Leonard, 24-14. The following W&J drive ended in a punt by junior Kevin Mechas and following a 50-yard pass from Gebhardt to Goose Cohorn, Hayden capped the drive with a 21 yard run to bring the Saints within three, 24-21, mid-way through the second quarter.
It took eight plays and 2:04 for W&J to stretch the lead back to 10, 31-21, following a 12 yard pass from Coughlin to senior Max Creighan. The score held up at the end and W&J led by 10 through 30 minutes.
On the eighth possession change of the second half, Thomas More cut the lead to three, 31-28, on an 11 yard run by Hayden. Six of the drives before that ended with a punt and the other was a W&J interception by senior Jared Pratt.
The Presidents needed just two plays to answer back as Coughlin found Lis for 77 yards after the signal caller kept the play alive with his feet and found his target after scurrying back near the line of scrimmage. W&J took a 38-28 lead into the fourth quarter thanks to the catch and run.
Opening the fourth quarter, the Presidents forced a punt and Coughlin hooked up for a score with Lis for the third time to cap a six-play, 43-yard drive that took 1:50. The point-after attempt was blocked and W&J led 44-28 with 12-plus minutes to play.
The first play from scrimmage of the next drive was intercepted by junior Dan Graziano at the TMC 25 after being tipped by Pratt. A four-yard run by junior Ryan Ruffing was followed by an eight-yard strike to Giampole and a Thomas More unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the ball to the seven, where Ruffing went in from on the next play, 51-28.
W&J out-gained TMC, 526-452, for the game, thanks to the 383 yard passing performance by Coughlin. The sophomore completed 25-of-35 attempts and tied the school record with six touchdown passes, marking the sixth time in school history that happened (three times by Hall of Famer Bobby Swallow).
Lis led all players with nine catches, 188 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs. Creighan grabbed seven balls for 57 yards and a touchdown. Zubik and Ruffing each caught three passes for 52 yards and Giampole ended with three catches for 34 yards.
Ruffing went over 100 yards for the fourth time this season, totaling 117 yards on 34 carries. Coughlin had 21 yards on 11 rushes.
Junior Bryce Merrill and Pratt led W&J with 11 tackles apiece, with Merrill having a tackle for loss and Pratt an interception. Senior Alec Schram had six tackles (all solo) and Turner recorded six stops including a pair of sacks and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Ryan Snedeker contributed W&J's third sack.
W&J hits the road for two games with the first coming Saturday, Oct. 11 at Grove City. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m.
Presidents storm past Saints, 51-28
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141004_dtyt.xml
2014
Thomas More
28
Washington and Jefferson
51
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 22 Thomas More (3-2) | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| No. 19 Washington and Jefferson (4-0) | 17 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 51 |
Oct 04, 2014