WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Sept. 2) – For the first 30 minutes of Saturday's season opener, the Waynesburg University football team looked like it was going to get run out of John F. Wiley Stadium. Visiting Allegheny built up a 26-7 halftime lead and was controlling both sides of the line of scrimmage. However, the Yellow Jacket coaching staff managed to rally the troops at halftime and turn the game around in a big way.
 
The Orange and Black roared back to tie the score and was poised to take its first lead of the day with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Unfortunately, a missed PAT sent the game to overtime, where the Gators answered a WU field goal with the deciding touchdown in a 36-33 final score.
 
Things got off to a promising start for Waynesburg (0-1, 0-1), which took the opening kickoff at its own 20-yard-line. The Yellow Jackets slowly, but surely marched 45 yards on 14 plays into Allegheny (1-0, 1-0) territory. Unfortunately, the 8:04 possession ended with a punt that resulted in a touchback. That kick started a dominant run by the Gators.
 
Allegheny opened the scoring on its first drive with an 11-play march that traveled 80 yards and concluded in the Jacket endzone. Waynesburg's ensuing drive ended in a turnover that set up another Gator touchdown that made the score 12-0.
 
The Jackets were able to inject some life into its home crowd when freshman Xavier Nelson (Canonsburg, Pa. / Bishop Canevin) took the kickoff following Allegheny's second score and sprinted 99 yards for his team's first touchdown of the season. Senior Ricco Sastoque (Concord, N.C. / Northwest Cabbarus) tacked on the extra point and with 12:31 remaining in the first half, Waynesburg's deficit was just five (12-7).
 
Unfortunately, the visiting team wiped out the Waynesburg momentum with a seven-play, 94-yard possession that produced a third-straight trip to the endzone. A Jacket punt gave the ball back to the Gators with 6:48 left to play in the second quarter. Allegheny ended the half with a fourth touchdown on four drives to extend its advantage to 26-7.
 
The Yellow Jackets still trailed by 19 when they went into the locker room. During the break, the Waynesburg softball team was honored at midfield for winning its second-straight Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) title this past spring. Perhaps the never-give-up attitude of those tremendous competitors seeped into the Waynesburg locker room, because it appeared as though a completely different team hit the Wiley turf when the third quarter got underway.
 
Not only did the Waynesburg defense keep Allegheny out of the endzone for the first time on the day, but junior Brandon Tyson (Upper Marlboro, Md. / Frederick Douglass) posted his first sack and forced fumble of 2023. Senior Joel Zellem (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) snatched the loose ball out of the air and rumbled 39 yards all the way down to the Allegheny three-yard-line.
 
Senior running back Justin Flack (Derry, Pa. / Derry) made it just a one-play drive following the turnover as he willed his way into the endzone. Another Sastoque kick pulled Waynesburg to within 12 points at 26-14 early in the third.
 
The Waynesburg defense carried the momentum from its first stop over into Allegheny's second possession and forced the Gators' first punt of the day to give the offense the ball at its own 20. Junior quarterback Samuel Barber (Johnstown, Pa. / Greater Johnstown), who entered the game late in the first half, combined with Flack to produce the Jackets' best drive to that point in the contest.
 
The Orange and Black traveled 80 yards in 10 plays, the last of which resulted in a seven-yard Flack scoring run. The four-time All-PAC selection carried the ball four times for 27 yards, while Barber completed four-of-five passes for 60 yards, including a 30-yard hookup with junior Dakota Romantino (Charleroi, Pa. / Chaleroi) and a 17-yard completion to sophomore Adrian Letta (East Rochester, N.Y. / East Rochester) on third-and-17 to keep the drive alive.
 
Sastoque's third-straight make made the score 26-21 and had Waynesburg within striking distance of grabbing the lead.
 
After the two teams exchanged punts, the Gators used a nine-play, 55-yard possession to break up WU's 14-0 run and grab a 33-21 advantage with 11:25 showing on the clock. Things looked bleaker for the home team after a turnover gave the ball back to the visitors with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
 
However, the Jackets weren't ready to give up the fight, as the defense continued its outstanding second half by forcing a quick punt. A 12-yard return by Romantino, combined with an Allegheny penalty, set Waynesburg up with a short field at the Gator 34. Barber covered 33 of those yards with completions to Flack and Letta, before Flack pounded in his third score of the day from one yard out. Sastoque's first missed extra point kept the Allegheny lead at 33-27.
 
With 6:45 showing on the fourth quarter clock, Allegheny looked like it might be able to just melt the remainder of the time away, as it traveled 44 yards in 11 plays and faced a fourth-and-seven at the home 31. Rather than attempting a long field goal or trying to pin the Orange and Black with a punt, the Gators kept the offense on the field looking to put the game away.
 
The Waynesburg defense was able to come up with one last big play as it forced an incompletion that gave the offense possession with 1:11 showing on the scoreboard and needing to traverse 69 yards to pay dirt.
 
Back-to-back completions to Flack and sophomore Isaac Trout (Ruffs Dale, Pa. / Southmoreland) moved the line of scrimmage to the 48. Back-to-back incompletions and a penalty set the Jackets up with a third-and-15 from the Waynesburg 43. Allegheny looked like it was going to set up a fourth-and-long when it limited the Jackets to just an eight-yard completion. However, a 15-yard facemask penalty gave the home team new life with a first down from the visiting 34.
 
After Waynesburg was forced to back up five yards following a false start, Barber dropped in a beautiful pass to a streaking Romantino who outran the defense to the endzone and tied the score at 33-33 with just 28 seconds left in the fourth and the PAT still to come. Unfortunately, the emotion that motivated the home team to a dominant third and fourth quarter, also resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the post-score celebration that backed the try up 15 yards. The kick was ultimately missed and after a run by Allegheny failed to reach the endzone, the game was sent to overtime.
 
The Gators won their second coin toss of the day and elected to put the Jackets on offense. Unfortunately, the Waynesburg offense failed to move from the 25-yard-line and set up a fourth-and-10. Sastoque got a measure of redemption as he set a new personal collegiate high by connecting on the 42-yard try to give the Jackets their first lead of the day.
 
Waynesburg bounced back on defense from allowing Allegheny to pick up a first down by forcing the Gators into a third-and-15 at the 19. However, after battling back from a 19-point halftime deficit and tying the game with just seconds to go in regulation, the Yellow Jacket comeback attempt was ultimately snuffed out, when Allegheny broke the hearts of the Orange and Black faithful with a 19-yard touchdown pass.
 
Despite not coming out on top when the final snap was played, there were definite positives for the home team.
 
Barber completed 13-of-25 passes for 205 yards, a touchdown and an interception in his first appearance for the Jackets. Romantino led all Waynesburg receivers with 75 yards on just three grabs, while Letta snared a team-high five passes for 58 yards.
 
Flack paced the Waynesburg running game with 63 yards on 16 carries. His trio of touchdown totes gives him 14 scoring runs over his last 11 games.
 
Defensively, the Jacket defense was paced by senior Jaquaivis Valle-Smith (Orlando, Fla. / Winter Park), who set game highs in total tackles (15) and solo stops (8). Senior Monroe Mohler (Union, W.Va. / James Monroe) also tallied eight solo hits as part of an 11-tackle performance.
 
After going through 60-plus minutes of an emotional rollercoaster, the Yellow Jackets will have to refocus over the next week to prepare for Grove City, which comes to John F. Wiley Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.