Box Score  
 
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Nov. 17) – After suffering its first loss of 2012 on Saturday, Nov. 10, in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship game, the Waynesburg University football team could have treated Saturday's Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) South West Bowl as a mere consolation prize to qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championship. Instead, the Yellow Jackets put together a record-setting performance that concluded one of the most successful seasons in program history by beating visiting Carnegie Mellon 28-24 under sunny skies at John F. Wiley Stadium.
 
The laundry list of achievements that the win brought the Jackets is impressive. Waynesburg (10-1) reached double-digit wins for the first time since the 1966 NAIA championship team went 11-0. It is also just the second season overall in which a Waynesburg team posted at least 10 victories. The game also marked the first postseason game hosted at Wiley Stadium, and, obviously, the first postseason victory at the facility, which was opened in 1995.
 
Things started well for the Jackets. After the home defense forced CMU (6-5) to punt, Waynesburg began its first possession of the day at its own 20-yard line. On the first play of the drive, junior running back Bertrand Ngampa ripped off a 40-yard run to put the ball at the Tartan 40. Six plays later, sophomore quarterback Carter Hill found senior wide receiver Christian Jackson for an 11-yard touchdown hookup that brought about the first points of the day. After junior Alex Henry connected on the first of his four successful extra point tries, the Jackets led 7-0 with just under six minutes of game time gone by.
 
Unfortunately for the home team, Jackson's touchdown grab produced its only first-half points. Meanwhile, Carnegie Mellon tied the game up with a second-quarter score to make the halftime score 7-7. CMU was able to keep its momentum going into the third quarter as it took its first lead of the day (10-7) on a field goal early in the period. Those three points began an exciting back-and-forth second half that saw both offenses come to life down the stretch.
 
After falling behind for the first time on the afternoon, Waynesburg regained the lead with just over four minutes left in the third, when senior running back Dominic Moore punched in a four-yard scoring run that capped a 15-play marathon possession that spanned 80 yards of Wiley turf. Henry's second successful PAT put the home team ahead 14-10 with 5:27 remaining until the start of the fourth quarter.
 
The scoring production was really cranked up in the final period as both teams posted a pair of touchdowns each. The visitors got things going with a go-ahead score that put them ahead 17-14 1:56 into the quarter. The Yellow Jackets fired right back on the ensuing kickoff, as the home team took possession at its own 21-yard line. After two Moore runs moved the ball to his team's 36-yard line, a holding penalty moved the ball back 10 yards to Waynesburg's 26. On the next play, Ngampa brought the Wiley crowd to its feet by catching a swing pass and turning it into an electrifying 74-yard touchdown catch-and-run that moved the Jackets back ahead by the count of 21-17 with 11 minutes left to play.
 
Carnegie Mellon was ready with another answer to the Jacket score and grabbed a 24-21 edge with 8:35 showing on the clock. However, their hosts were bound and determined to end 2012 on a high note and after a touchback gave them the ball back at their own 20-yard line, Waynesburg was able to put together one last touchdown drive on the season.
 
The Orange and Black combined five hard-nosed carries from Moore with a fine display of passing from Hill to traverse 80 yards for the game-winning score. Hill completed six-of-seven attempts and Moore pounded out 28 yards, the 28^th of which put the bruising back in the end zone for his eighth and final touchdown of the year. Henry's final PAT of 2012 put the host squad up 28-24 with just 2:58 left to play.
 
CMU was able to move the ball to the Waynesburg 42-yard line and the Tartans looked primed to take a serious shot at a go-ahead score. However, on third and nine, sophomore defensive lineman Josh Tolliver and senior defensive tackle Matt Krause combined to meet at Carnegie Mellon quarterback Rob Kalkstein for a fourth down-forcing sack. The Jacket defense ended its season in style as junior defensive end Brandon Fedorka not only added his own sack of Kalkstein, but he forced the ball loose, which allowed Krause to end his collegiate career with a fumble recovery at the Tartan 38-yard line with just 1:05 remaining in the victory. A pair of Hill kneel downs put the finishing touches on the Waynesburg win.
 
The running back duo of Moore and Ngampa powered a Jacket offense that cranked out 201 yards on the ground. Moore, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the game, piled up 105 yards and two touchdowns on just 18 carries. Ngampa  ended a fantastic junior campaign with 96 yards on 19 carries. When combined with his long touchdown reception, the junior wound up with 170 total yards of offense.
 
Hill added an important aerial aspect to the Waynesburg attack by completing 21-of-31 passes for a game-high 272 yards, two scores and an interception. Jackson was his favorite target on the afternoon. The senior snagged a game-high nine catches for a Waynesburg-best 101 yards and a score.
 
Waynesburg's defensive efforts were led by Krause, who led all Jacket defenders with a game-high nine tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss and the game-clinching fumble recovery. Linebackers Ronnie Skinner and John Sikora chipped in eight and seven tackles, respectively.