WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 4) – The Waynesburg University football team opened a new chapter in its history, as first-year head coach Dr. Cornelius Coleman led his team south to his hometown to face Gallaudet. After having kickoff delayed by two hours by a massive power outage in the metro area, the Yellow Jackets lit up the scoreboard at Hotchkiss Field to the tune of a 52-14 win.
 
Saturday's final outcome snapped Waynesburg's (1-0) six-game losing streak in season openers. Though Waynesburg never trailed on the afternoon, the host Bison (0-1) stayed right with the visitors throughout the first half. A 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tyler Raines (Columbia, Md. / Long Reach) to sophomore wide receiver Ke'AnDre Hollis (Boynton Beach, Fla. / Lake Worth) with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter put the Orange and Black ahead 13-3. Junior kicker Ricco Sastoque (Concord, N.C. / Northwest Cabbarus) connected on his second of seven extra point attempts on the day.
 
Sastoque tallied the only points of the second quarter by capping a seven-play, 41-yard drive with a 23-yard field goal that made the score 17-7 with 11:21 left to play in the half. The Jacket defense made that score hold up until halftime.
 
The third quarter had a similar start to the first, as the two competitors traded touchdowns. Senior running back Justin Flack (Derry, Pa. / Derry) took a Raines pass and turned it into a 34-yard touchdown play that closed out a brief four-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Another Sastoque PAT ran Waynesburg's advantage to 24-7.
 
Gallaudet tallied its final points of the game to make the score 24-14 with 6:16 showing on the third-quarter clock. That touchdown preceded a dominant final 21:16 of play for the Jackets in which Waynesburg scored the final 28 points of the victory.
 
Raines hooked up with Hollis from 38 yards out for a second touchdown to run Waynesburg's advantage up to 31-14. Flack posted his third touchdown of the day, this one coming on a 10-yard run, to make the score 38-14 with just under two minutes left to play in the third quarter.
 
Raines gathered his fourth total touchdown of the win 9:22 into the fourth with a 14-yard touchdown scamper that ran the Jacket lead to 45-14. Waynesburg capped the triumph in style with just under five minutes left to play. Freshman Jack Nagy (Attleboro, Mass. / Attleboro) introduced himself to the Jacket faithful by scooping up a fumble near the Bison goal line and plunging in the endzone to make the score 51-14. Sastoque logged the final point of the day with 4:45 left to play.
 
Raines was the picture of efficiency, as he completed 13-of-16 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns to go along with his scoring run. Hollis and freshman Isaac Trout (Ruffs Dale, Pa. / Southmoreland) pulled in three catches each. Hollis set game highs in receptions, receiving yards (54) and touchdown grabs. Trout turned his three grabs into 34 yards.
 
Despite facing Gallaudet's triple-option attack that logged the fourth-most rushing yards per game in all of Division III in 2021, Waynesburg's rushing attack was nearly as potent as the host team. Led by Flack and fellow senior Nick Hall (Fayette City, Pa. / Belle Vernon), the Orange and Black racked up 249 yards on the ground.
 
Hall ripped off a game-high 110 yards on 12 carries. Flack went for 85 yards on just eight carries.
 
Defensively, freshman Austin Derr (Mifflintown, Pa. / Juniata) piled up a game-high 10 tackles and a contest-best 2.5 tackles for loss in a fantastic collegiate debut. Sophomore Isaac Huey (Klymer, Pa. / Purchase Line) chipped in eight tackles to the winning effort.
 
Senior Jesse Cain (Hedgesville, W.Va. / Hedgesville), who missed all of last year with an injury, made a noticeable impact in his return to the field. Not only did he tally a game-high four solo tackles, but he reeled in Waynesburg's first interception of the year.
 
Cain's pick was one of five Jacket turnovers on the day. Four of his teammates - sophomore Brennan Boron (St. Mary's, W.Va. / St. Mary's), senior Tyler Metzger (Connellsville, Pa. Connellsville), graduate student Joel Zellem (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) and Nagy all recovered fumbles. Boron, Metzger and Zellem, along with sophomore James Davis (Kersey, Pa. / Saint Mary's), were credited with forcing those fumbles.
 
Davis added 2.0 tackles for loss, while Zellem was involved with 1.5 stops in the backfield.
 
Sastoque was productive in his Waynesburg debut. Not only did he score 10 points on seven PAT's and a field goal, he also averaged 58.7 yards per kickoff, one of which was a touchback.
 
The Jackets will try to carry their momentum over from an impressive season debut to Saturday, Sept. 10, when they host fellow Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) member Case Western Reserve for a non-conference showdown. Kickoff from John F. Wiley Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.