WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Nov. 12) – The Waynesburg University football team closed up the 2016 season on Saturday with the annual Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Backyard Brawl against Washington & Jefferson. The Yellow Jacket defense kept the explosive President offense in check, but the offense couldn't quite put enough points on the board, as the Presidents' came away with a 14-10 victory.
 
Waynesburg (2-8, 2-6) held W&J (8-2, 6-2) to roughly a third of its season scoring average (40.1). The Presidents also produced 259 total yards of offense, well under their average of 466.7 per contest. The trend continued into the vaunted passing game of W&J, which averaged a PAC-best 309.3 yards per game through the air. The visitors went for 162 yards on Saturday.
 
Waynesburg got on the board first after celebrating its 2016 senior day when freshman kicker Mike Ryhal converted a 26-yard field goal try that concluded a marathon 13-play, 71-yard possession that chewed up 6:46 of game time in the first quarter.
 
Unfortunately, the lead was a short-lived one, as the Presidents fired back with a 71-yard touchdown drive. However, the Jackets were ready to respond to the W&J challenge on their next possession.
 
Freshman quarterback Tyler Perone, who put together an efficient day on the field, deftly guided his team down the field on the final possession of the first quarter that continued into period number two. The first-year transfer completed six-of-seven passes on the drive, the last of which was a 26-yard hookup to freshman wide receiver Ta'Vaughn Johnson that put the ball at the four-yard-line. Sophomore Ben Ciero recorded his team-leading third touchdown run to put the Jackets back ahead 9-7. Ryhal completed a perfect season on PAT attempts to make the score 10-7.
 
The Jacket defense completed a stellar first half by forcing W&J into two punt situations and recovering a fumble to preserve the home team's three-point lead. Thanks in large part to that defense, Waynesburg held W&J to just 9:04 when it came to time of possession over the first two quarters of play.
 
Waynesburg received the opening kickoff for the second half and marched into W&J territory. Unfortunately, the drive stalled at the 31-yard-line on a fourth down play, giving possession to the Presidents. The visitors responded by going 69 yards in three plays for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
 
W&J looked poised to extend its lead on its next possession, when it drove down to the Waynesburg three. However, the Jacket defense showed its mettle by not only keeping the Red and Black out of the end zone, but stuffing back-to-back runs from the one-yard-line.
 
Two drives later, the Waynesburg D did it again after the Presidents pushed the line of scrimmage all the way down to the home team's three. Once again, the Jackets rose to the challenge by not only halting W&J's progress, but pushing them back to the seven-yard-line. Waynesburg completed the stop by forcing the Presidents into a missed 23-yard field goal.
 
That miss gave the Jackets the ball back at its own 20-yard-line with 2:53 remaining in the contest. Waynesburg picked up a first down on its first play from scrimmage, but a sack and three-straight incompletions ended the home team's chances for victory.
 
Junior linebacker Brent Blacharczyk paced the Jacket defense with eight total tackles, including five solo stops. Classmate Brad Grinnen lived in the W&J backfield with 3.0 tackles for loss, including a sack. Seniors Roomel Reese and Zach Machuga added a sack each on the day.
 
Not only did Waynesburg control W&J on the team level, but also kept two of the top individual performers in the conference in check. Pete Coughlin, the PAC's number-two passer was held to 162 yards passing, over 100 yards below his average of 276.6 ypg. The conference's leading receiver, Jesse Zubik, came into Saturday averaging PAC highs in receptions per game (8.8), yards receiving per game (139.0) and total touchdown catches (16). He went for 65 yards on five grabs.
 
The Jacket offense was paced by Perone, who completed 22-of-35 attempts for 218 yards and no interceptions. Johnson and senior Kevin Barnes, Jr. were Perone's two favorite targets. The freshman pulled in a game-high six catches for 65 yards, while Barnes recorded five grabs for 70 yards.
 
Ciero paced the Waynesburg ground game with 49 yards on 18 carries.