WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Sept. 26) – The Waynesburg University football team welcomed longtime rival Westminster to John F. Wiley Stadium on Saturday for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup. The two teams battled for 60 hard-hitting minutes, but when the dust settled, it was Westminster that stood victorious by the final score of 21-20.
After 14:07 of scoreless play, Westminster (1-2, 0-1) broke up a scoreless tie with the game's first touchdown. The Titans doubled their advantage to 14-0 with just 50 second remaining in the first half. However, Waynesburg was able to grab a little of that momentum before the break.
After Waynesburg took possession of the football at its own 25-yard-line, senior running back
Zayne Cawley (Huntingtown, Md. / Huntingtown) gave his team a shot in the arm with a 45-yard run to the Titan 30. A pass interference penalty moved the ball to the 15, where freshman quarterback
Jaylen Bester (Atlanta, Ga. / Greenville Christian) drilled a pass to senior
Tyler Richmond (Carmichaels, Pa. / Carmichaels), who drug multiple Westminster defenders into the endzone for his first score of the year. It was also Bester's first collegiate touchdown pass.
After senior
Drew Pinkerton (Fayetteville, Pa. / Chambersburg) knocked down the extra point, the two teams broke for their respective locker rooms with the Titans ahead 14-7.
The Waynesburg defense did its job to start the third quarter by forcing the opposition to punt the ball away to the Jacket 22. The Orange and Black offense got a break facing fourth-and-long in Titan territory when another pass interference flag put the ball at the Westminster 24. The Jackets drove the ball down to the visiting 12, but were faced with a fourth-and-10. Freshman
Dominic Hickman (Huntingtown, Md. / Huntingtown), who came in for Bester after his helmet came off on third down, showed poise beyond his years by zipping in a touchdown strike to junior
Isaiah Fields (Cumberland, Md. / Allegany).
Another Pinkerton PAT and the score was tied 14-14 with just over nine minutes remaining in the quarter. Things stayed knotted up as the two teams entered the final 15 minutes of play.
Westminster scored its final touchdown of the day to regain the advantage at 21-14, but the Jackets had an answer on the ensuing possession, when Cawley capped an eight-play, 62-yard possession with an eight-yard scoring run. However, the Titans were able to block the PAT and held onto their one-point edge with 2:14 showing on the clock.
The Jacket defense kept hope alive for the host squad when it forced Westminster to punt with just over 90 seconds left in the contest. Waynesburg's special teams got into the act when senior
Ethan Floyd (Philippi, W.Va. / Philip Barbour) knifed in between the punt coverage and blocked the attempt, setting his team up at the Titan 32 with just under 100 seconds of play remaining on the day.
Bester showed off his running ability with sprints of nine and 11 yards, while Cawley plowed ahead for a crucial fourth down conversion, and senior
Carson Shriver (Fairview, W.Va. / Clay-Battelle) got the final two carries of the afternoon to set up Pinkerton for the game-winning field goal at the seven-yard line. Unfortunately, his attempt just missed wide left and the Titans knelt on the football once to run out the final seconds of the game.
Though the loss was a hard one to swallow, Waynesburg and its fans got a chance to see just what Bester is capable of as he threw for 133 yards, a touchdown and a pick on 36 attempts and ran the ball 14 times for 103 yards, making him the first Jacket signal caller to run for over 100 yards in recent program history.
Speaking of toting the rock, Cawley ripped off a game-high 143 yards and a score on 17 carries. As a team, Waynesburg piled up 268 net yards on the ground on 39 carries.
Senior linebacker
Joanes Polynice (Winter Garden, Fla. / West Orange) was all over the field for the Jacket defense, as he piled up a game-high 11 tackles, 10 of which were solo stops. Sophomore defensive back
Marcus Crum Jr. (Warren, Ohio / Warren G. Harding) made his presence known in the Westminster backfield with three tackles for loss. He also forced and recovered a fumble, for one of his top games as a Jacket.
Waynesburg returns to John F. Wiley Stadium on Saturday for a Homecoming battle with Saint Vincent. Kickoff for the PAC matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m.
