Washington & Jefferson’s defense kept the Presidents in the game through three quarters, long enough for struggling offense and special teams to pull things together as the Red & Black scored 17 points in the final quarter to beat Westminster, 17-14. The punt return unit was penalized three times and one blocker was hit by a kick, turning the ball over at mid-field but the defense turned the Titans away. Quarterbacks Colton Jones and Jake Pugh threw first-half interceptions, Jones’ returned 77 yards for the only points of the first half. Receive Ian Hansen caught a pass early in the third, sprinted for the first-down marker and fumbled the ball away. And the defense stood its ground long, then got an interception from freshman Bruno Fabrycki to turn the tide. Two plays later, Pugh got the ball to Johnny O’Rourke who battled his way to the endzone from eight yards out to tie the game with 12:44 left to play. The Titans, who lost their four-year starting quarterback Cole Konieczka to injury late in the first half, couldn’t move the ball and punted. W&J took over at its own 40 yard line, took advantage of two personal foul penalties, then overcame their own illegal block setback to set up second and 10 at the Titans’ 24. Pugh threw backwards to one of his top targets, John Peduzzi, who caught the ball, set his feet and threw downfield to a wide-open O’Rourke to give W&J its first lead of the game. Westminster fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Deven Wyandt booted a 27 yard field goal to go up by 10 with 4:27 left in the game. Backup quarterback Ty McCowan, a freshman, led the Titans on a 75-yard, 11-play drive capped with a 7-yard scoring pass to Ryan Gomes. W&J ‘s TJ Troxell recovered the onside kick attempt and the Presidents ran out the clock for the win, improving to 3-1 in the PAC, 5-1 overall. Westminster drops to 1-2, likely out of the championship chase.
Pugh finished the day 14-of-25 for 144 yards, one touchdown and one interception. O’Rourke caught five passes for 58 yards and both W&J touchdowns. Ray Holmes carried 19 times for 63 yards in the win. W&J’s defense held Westminster to 199 total yards, 75 of those on the final drive of the game. The Titans managed just 72 yards rushing, thanks to nine tackles for loss, including four sacks. The Presidents host PAC leader Carnegie-Mellon next Saturday at Cameron Stadium.