SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Washington & Jefferson intercepted a school record eight passes en route to a 41-25 win at Wittenberg in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
The Presidents' win moves them to 10-1 on the season and sets up a date with No. 3 Mount Union next weekend, Saturday, Nov. 29, at 12 p.m., in Alliance, Ohio. It marks the 17th season in the storied history of the W&J football program that the Presidents have won 10 games. No. 12 Wittenberg drops to 9-2 this year after losing its first game to a Division III opponent in 2014.
Billy Kelley and Alec Schram each picked off three passes, tying the W&J single-game and NCAA Division III postseason records, and Dan Graziano and Tim Blair each added an interception apiece in the win.
After W&J went down the field 70 yards on seven plays in 2:25 to open the game, capped with a five-yard pass to Daniel Lis from Pete Coughlin, Schram picked off Wittenberg's first play from scrimmage at the W&J 34-yard line.
The two teams traded punts after that before Coughlin found Jesse Zubik who went 45 yards on a screen pass to the end zone, 14-0. Wittenberg's next drive ended in three-and-out and a punt, meaning that in their first three possessions, the Tigers ran just seven plays.
W&J's second takeaway came when Sly Revitsky forced a fumble by Wittenberg quarterback Zack Jenkins that was recovered by Bryce Merrill near the end of the first quarter leading to a Blake Davis 26-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-0 early in the second quarter.
Wittenberg put their first points on the board with 11:20 left in the first half with a 36-yard field goal by Evan Grissom. Coughlin was intercepted on the ensuing drive, but three plays later Kelly recorded his first pick of the day. Blair's interception came at 3:54 to end a Tigers drive and then on Wittenberg's first extended drive as time ticked away in the first half, Schram picked off his second pass of the day just inside the right corner pylon to send the Presidents into halftime up 17-3.
Opening the second half, Wittenberg marched inside the W&J 10-yard line before a tackle for loss by Ryan Torrance was exacerbated by a personal foul against the Tigers, but led to a 42-yard field goal, 17-6.
The red and black answered with the second field goal of the game by Davis, a 28-yarder, to re-take a 14-point lead, 20-6, with 7:05 to play in the third.
Wittenberg finally found the end zone at the 4:46-mark of the third when Jenkins found Corey Stump who broke multiple tackles on his way to a 54-yard touchdown catch, 20-13.
Kelley picked off a pass with under one minute in the third quarter and returned it 28 yards to the Wittenberg two-yard line and Ryan Ruffing punched it in from there, his national-leading 25th rushing touchdown of the season and 29th overall, 27-13.
Jon Turner and Ryan Snedeker combined for a sack on fourth-and-eight when Witt had the ball at the W&J 13, but Coughlin was sacked for a safety after trying to allude the pass rush, 27-15. Wittenberg's second play after the free kick was Schram's third pick of the day which set up a seven-yard jaunt by Coughlin as 9:14 remained, 34-15.
The Tigers added a field goal on their next possession, but Max Creighan set a W&J record with a 95-yard kickoff return for a score, 41-18. The previous record was 92 yards by DeWayne Jeter versus Case Western Reserve in 1986 and Dion Wiegand against Thomas More last year. The last time the Presidents had scored on a kickoff return was Nov. 9, 2013 when Wiegand went 85 yards against Geneva.
Wrapping up the game, the final three possessions for Wittenberg ended with a Graziano interception, a Jenkins one-yard run, and a third pick by Kelley as W&J eliminated Wittenberg, 41-25.
Jared Pratt led all players with 11 tackles. Kelley made 10 stops to go with his three picks. Justin Bauer recorded eight tackles, Merrill made seven stops and a TFL. Torrance posted seven tackles as well with 2.0 sacks.
Coughlin completed 22-of-40 passes for 236 yards and two scores. 11 of his completions went to Lis for 71 yards and a TD, while Zubik caught five passes for 113 yards and a TD.
W&J ran just 74 plays on the day and accumulated 317 yards of total offense. Ruffing finished with 38 yards on eight carries, his lowest rushing output of the season. Zack Puckett also contributed 38 yards on 11 rushes.
Quick Picks: W&J picks off eight passes in 41-25 win
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141122_l3br.xml
2014
Washington and Jefferson
41
Wittenberg
25
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 19 Washington and Jefferson (10-1) | 14 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 41 |
| No. 12 Wittenberg (9-2) | 0 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 25 |
Nov 22, 2014