The Waynesburg defense did a fantastic job of stifling Thomas More's powerful running attack, but it wasn't enough as the Saints came back to win 14-10.
Box Score
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Nov. 6) – There was plenty on the line in Saturday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown at John F. Wiley Stadium between Waynesburg and Thomas More.
A win for the ninth-ranked Saints would earn them their third-straight PAC title. If the Yellow Jackets pulled the upset and won their fifth-straight game, it would set up a winner-take-all matchup in the final week of the season for the conference crown. Both teams slugged it out under the cold, dreary Waynesburg skies and it looked like the Jackets would keep their title hopes alive. Unfortunately, by the time the final seconds rolled off the game clock, the Saints were the ones celebrating as they scored with less than one minute to go in the contest to pull out a 14-10 win.
It was Thomas More's (10-0, 7-0) 21st -straight regular season win and its 19th-straight PAC victory. The loss dropped Waynesburg to 6-3 on the season and 4-2 in conference action.
Though it came in a losing effort, the Jacket defense put together maybe its top performance of the season as it stifled the Saints' high-powered running attack. Waynesburg held Thomas More to a season-low 103 yards on the ground. Unfortunately, the Saint defense was just as good and held the Yellow Jackets to season lows in rushing yards (33 yards), points and total yards of offense (248).
After the first five combined possessions of the game ended in punts, Thomas More opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mercier Doucette from quarterback Robert Kues. The scoring strike capped a short four-play, 35-yard drive that gave the visitors a 7-0 lead with 9:08 to go in the first quarter.
Following the score, the defenses took center stage and neither team put up any points for the remainder of the opening period. However, the Jackets cut the deficit to four points eight seconds into the second quarter when sophomore kicker Jon Storck connected on 28-yard field goal to make the score 7-3, which was also the tally at halftime.
The two defenses picked up where they left off in the third quarter by trading hard hits and athletic plays to stymie both offenses. However, in the fourth quarter, Waynesburg finally punched through the Saint defense when freshman running back Dominic Moore pounded in a one-yard touchdown run to end a 13-play, 46-yard drive that ate up 5:21 of clock time in the fourth quarter. Though Moore picked up his team-leading ninth touchdown run of the season, the big play of the drive came when senior quarterback Brad Dawson hit senior wide receiver Brent Heckel for a three-yard completion on fourth-and-two to keep the drive alive.
The Waynesburg defense continued its tremendous play following the score by stuffing the Saints short of the goal line on the ensuing drive and forcing a missed 42-yard field goal with just 2:39 to go in the contest.
Unfortunately, the Waynesburg offense went three-and-out on the next possession. Sophomore punter Zack Rogers did a tremendous job of pinning the Saints deep in the own territory with a 46-yard punt that went out of bounds at the 20-yard line. However, Thomas More showed the composure of a three-time conference champ and a top-10 team by marching 80 yards in 20 plays. Doucette caught his second touchdown of the day to move the Saints back ahead 14-10. The drive also ate up 2:04 of clock and left the Jackets with just 43 seconds of game time to pull out the win.
Senior running back/kick returner Troy Garove did all he could to set up the offense by taking the ensuing kickoff back to the Waynesburg 46-yard line. However, a Dawson pass intended for junior wide receiver Jeff Young was intercepted and Thomas More was able to kneel on the ball to seal the victory that gets them back into the NCAA Division III playoffs.
Though it came in a losing effort, sophomore safety Bryan Gary continued his strong season by posting a team-high 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops. He also piled up a game-high three tackles for loss and forced a fumble. The Jacket offense was led by junior running back Justin Falcon, who rushed six times for 12 yards and also caught a game-high seven passes for a team-high 56 yards.
With the Saint running game bottled up, the visitors turned to Kues, who totaled 345 yards (275 passing, 70 yards rushing), while also throwing for both Thomas More scores.
Waynesburg can still clinch second place in the PAC next weekend when they host Washington & Jefferson in the regular season finale for both teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
