UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The 19th ranked Washington & Jefferson College football team earned a hard-fought 21-14 victory over No. 11 John Carroll University in a non-conference matchup of Top 25 teams at Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field on Saturday afternoon.
The victory was the sixth straight for W&J in the head-to-head series with John Carroll. This marked the first time that they met on the gridiron since 1988 when John Carroll was a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. The victory was the 160th in the coaching career for 19th year head coach Mike Sirianni.
Junior quarterback Justin Heacock proved up to the task, as he delivered a strong and efficient performance in the victory. Heacock completed 21-of-25 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Heacock was intercepted just one and sacked three times. Heacock connected with senior wide receiver Andrew Wolf (Ashland, Ohio/Hillsdale) for all three W&J touchdowns. Wolf, who was recently named a preseason All-American by D3football.com proved unstoppable at times, as he hauled in eight passes for 172 yards.
After a scoreless first half, John Carroll opened the scoring on the initial possession of the third quarter. Demerius Goodwin raced 37 yards up the middle to cap a four-play, 70-yard scoring drive. The PAT by Grant Gonya gave the Blue Streaks a 7-0 edge. However, W&J answered quickly, as Heacock connected with Wolf for a 65-yard touchdown strike to even the score just two plays later. The two defenses then took control for more than 13 minutes, as the two teams tried to play a field position game.
Heacock found Wolf for another big play strike on the first play of the fourth quarter. This time the touchdown connection went for 56 yards. The TD pass gave W&J its first lead of the day at 13-7 with 14:51 to play. A little more than four minutes later, Heacock found Wolf in the end zone for a third time. The seven-yard TD reception by Wolf capped a four-play, 27-yard drive as W&J was working with a short field.
John Carroll made things interesting with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jake Floriea to Joe Torok on a 4th and 17 heave. The touchdown with 2:25 to play capped a seven-play, 85-yard drive for the Blue Streaks. Delonta Nunnally(Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) ended hopes for a John Carroll comeback by pouncing on the onside kick attempt. W&J drained the clock out to finish off the victory.
Junior running back Joey Koroly (Washington, Pa./Trinity) gained 75 yards on 19 rushing attempts. The W&J defense put together another strong effort, as they limited JCU throughout the game. Junior defensive back Drew Ehrlich(Annapolis, Md./Gilman School) made a game-high 12 tackles. Alex Keith (Hartville, Ohio/Lake) and Jason Hersh(Potomac, Md./The Bullis School) collected eight tackles each and combined for three sacks.
Jacob Sarver (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) played a key role in aiding the W&J defensive efforts. The senior punter helped saddle John Carroll with difficult field position throughout the afternoon. Sarver pinned the Blue Streaks inside their own 20-yard line four times and averaged 40.4 yards per punt on eight punts.
The John Carroll offense converted just 1-of-14 third down attempts. The W&J defense sacked John Carroll four times as well in the game.
W&J (1-0 overall) travels to Thiel College for its PAC opener on Saturday, Sept. 11. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
No. 19 W&J beats No. 11 John Carroll 21-14 in matchup of Top 25 teams
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20210904_a367.xml
2021
Washington and Jefferson
21
John Carroll
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington and Jefferson (1-0) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| John Carroll (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
Sep 04, 2021