Box Score

BETHANY, W.Va. (Oct. 25) – Saturday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) clash between Waynesburg and Bethany proved that the past means nothing and football is all about who is the better team on the day the game is played.

The Yellow Jackets went to Bison Stadium riding a three-game winning streak and sporting a 4-2 overall record. The Bison, meanwhile, had lost several close games and had just win on their overall and PAC records.

However, when the final whistle was blown in West Virginia, the Bison celebrated a stunning 31-24 upset of the Yellow Jackets. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Waynesburg against Bethany that stretched back to 2002.

The home team (2-5, 1-4) took the first lead of the game at the 11:11 mark of the first quarter on a 25-yard field goal by Carlos Perdomo, capping an eight-play 61-yard drive to open the game.

The Jackets (4-3, 1-2) responded two drives later when sophomore wide receiver Ray Hightower II hauled in a Brad Dawson pass and went 41 yards to the end zone, giving Waynesburg its first lead of the day.

Freshman kicker Bryan Arbes tacked on the extra point to put the visitors ahead 7-3.

After the first quarter expired, Bethany regained the lead on a five-yard touchdown hookup between Bison quarterback Chad Smith and wide out Matt Cruse. Perdomo's kick moved BC back out ahead 10-7.

Still trailing by a field goal, the Jackets got their first lead with just second to go until halftime.

Freshman running back Justin Falcon, who had a huge day for Waynesburg, plunged across the goal line with just 12 seconds to go in the second quarter to cap a 10-play, 58-yard drive and give WU a 13-10 advantage. Another Arbes PAT made it 14-10.

After both teams emerged from their respective locker rooms, the Bison took over the contest in front of their home crowd.

With 4:27 to go in the third quarter, running back Marcus Santini hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Smith to move the Bison ahead once again. This time, Evan Plescia came on to handle the extra point duties, and put his team ahead 17-14.

The Green and White picked up the game's first multi-score lead with 54 seconds to go in the third quarter when Jeff Joyce pounded in a two-yard score, ending a four-play, 58-yard scoring drive.

Another Plescia PAT put the Bison up 24-14.

Trailing by 10 and watching time slip away, Waynesburg showed no signs of panic as they started chipping away at the deficit in the fourth quarter.

Halfway through the period, Arbes knocked through a 39-yard field goal, ending an eight-play, 34-yard drive at the 8:27 mark.

With their lead down to a single touchdown, Bethany did the Yellow Jackets a big favor as they went for a fake punt with just over seven minutes left in the game. Waynesburg blew the play up and took over from the Bison 28-yard line.

From there, the Jacket offense marched to the end zone and Dawson snuck in a one-yard touchdown run at the 4:29 mark of the contest. Arbes coolly drilled the PAT to tie the game at 24-24.

However, on the ensuing drive, the Bison got into position to take the lead back at the Waynesburg 26-yard line. From there, Santini pulled in a one-handed grab off of a 26-yard pass from Smith for the go-ahead score with just 1:29 left.

On Waynesburg's next drive, they fumbled the ball away to the Bison. However, the defense was able to get the ball back with 41 seconds to go.

On the possession, Dawson was able to complete back-to-back passes to Tom Hudson and Hightower to put Waynesburg in striking range at the Bethany 26 with five seconds to go. Unfortunately, the sophomore signal-caller was picked for a second time on the day as the clock expired, allowing the Bison to celebrate their hard-fought victory.

Though it came in a losing effort, Falcon, who made his first collegiate start for an injured Billy Becker, exploded for a game-high 143 yards and a score on a workhorse-like 38 carries.

Dawson threw for a season-high 254 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions on 18-for-28 passing, with most of the yardage going to Hightower and junior Josh Fisher.

Hightower recorded his third 100-yard receiving game of the season with five catches for a contest-best 111 yards and a score. Fisher added a game-high nine catches for 100 yards.

Defensively, senior defensive end DJ DeWitt had a monster day. The Connellsville graduate rolled up a team-best eight tackles, three of them being solo hits, four tackles for loss and three sacks.

Freshman defensive lineman #Darryl Moore, Jr.# added a sack of his own.

The Bison were led offensively by Smith, who threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-38 passing. Cruse pulled in seven of those balls for 105 yards and a score.

On the ground, freshman running back Eric Walker galloped for 113 yards on just 14 carries.

The Bison defense was led by safety David Abel who racked up a game-high 14 tackles, five of them being solo stops. Waynesburg native and Bethany junior defensive back Nelson Mitzen also had a big day, making nine tackles, recovering two fumbles and intercepting a Dawson pass.

On the day, Bethany held a slight offensive edge on their opponents by a 414 to 396 margin.

The Jackets will try to get back on the winning track this Saturday when they return home after spending two weeks on the road to face Grove City.