WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The 12th ranked Washington & Jefferson football team rolled up 242 rushing yards and forced five Bethany College turnovers in a 28-3 victory in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game Saturday night at Cameron Stadium.
The win was the seventh straight in the head-to-head series for W&J over Bethany. The Bison now haven't won in Washington in nearly 40 years (1982).
After the two teams played through a scoreless first quarter, W&J got on the scoreboard first midway through the second quarter when the Red and Black took advantage of a short field. A 13-yard pass by quarterback Justin Heacock (New Concord, Ohio/John Glenn) to wide receiver Cameron O'Brien (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) followed by a 21-yard run by Justin Huss (Derry, Pa./Derry) set W&J up first-and-goal at the Bethany five-yard line. A play later, running back Joey Koroly (Washington, Pa./Trinity) pushed into the end zone from two yards out to give W&J a 7-0 lead after the PAT by kicker Sean Disbrow(Sykesville, Md./Liberty).
The Bison moved the ball at times throughout the first but were plagued by turnovers. Bethany saw three drives result in turnovers in the second quarter alone. W&J senior cornerback Delonta Nunnally (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) picked up a Dom Salinetro pass on the Bison's opening drive of the quarter. Following the Koroly touchdown, Tanner Volpatti (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) intercepted Salinetro at the W&J 17-yard line. On the final play of the first half, Bison wide receiver Chris Williams fumbled and W&J junior Drew Ehrlich (Annapolis, Md./Gilman School) recovered to send W&J into the locker room with a 7-0 halftime edge.
Bethany opened the second half by recovering an onside kick. The Bison methodically marched 46 yards on 11 plays before settling for a 27-yard field goal by Sean Cole. The Cole field goal cut the Bethany deficit to 7-3 with 10:24 left in the third quarter. However, a short kickoff that was returned 22 yards by Koroly as well as a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty allowed W&J to start the drive at 50-yard line. W&J took advantage of the Bison blunder, as the Red and Black needed just four plays to matriculate the ball 50 yards for the touchdown. After three straight runs by Koroly, Heacock hit O'Brien for a 29-yard touchdown pass. The Disbrow PAT extended the W&J lead to 14-3 at the 8:47 mark of the third.
On the ensuing possession, another Bison turnover ended a drive in W&J territory. With Salinetro briefly knocked out of the game, Bison backup Marquice Robinson saw his heave intercepted by defensive back Max Garda (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) at the W&J nine-yard line.
W&J broke Bethany's backs on the ensuing drive as the Presidents marched 91 yards on 10 plays. Koroly, Thompson and Huss combined to account for 75 of the 91 yards on the drive. Huss raced in from 37 yards out to swell the Presidents lead to 21-3 with 1:27 to play in the third quarter.
Thompson concluded the scoring with a one-yard touchdown plunge that extended the W&J lead to 28-3 with 8:24 to play in the fourth. Nick Freiwald (Clairton, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) gave W&J its fifth takeaway of the game, as the senior intercepted Robinson with 4:19 to play.
Offensively, Heacock finished with 164 yards and a touchdown pass on 18-of-25 pass attempts. Koroly amassed 99 yards on 19 carries while Huss combined to account for 115 yards on 10 total touches (89 rushing, 26 receiving). O'Brien had 52 yards receiving on four catches including the touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ledger, senior linebacker Sean Doran (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) posted a career-high 17 tackles in the victory. Erhlich added nine stops while defensive lineman Elijah Goosby (Rochester, Pa./Rochester) posted eight tackles, three of which went for loss.
The W&J defense limited Bethany to just 227 yards of total offense, which included just 14 yards rushing on 29 carries.
The victory improves W&J to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The loss drops Bethany to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in league action.
W&J travels to Case Western Reserve on Saturday, Sept. 25. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at DiSanto Field in Cleveland.