This season marks the 60th anniversary of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. See C2
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OCTOBER 9, 2014 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | WWW.THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG
Football blanks Grove City for second-straight year By JACOB MEYER Managing Editor
After last week’s loss to Bethany, in which Carter Hill completed just 46 percent of his passes, head coach Rick Shepas said he wanted to see “premium throws” out of his senior quarterback Saturday against Grove City. Hill did just that by completing 20 of his 34 pass attempts for season-high 311 yards and career-high five touchdowns in the 35-0 win. Hill’s five touchdowns in Saturday’s game are the most by a Waynesburg quarterback since Josh Graham threw six on Oct. 8, 2011 against Geneva. “I think he just went out
there and wanted to have some fun,” Shepas said. “I think he put a lot of expectations on himself and this offense at the beginning of the season, and forgot about the most important thing is to just go out there and have fun. The way he was getting the ball out of his hand and letting it loose, he was back to the guy we’re used to.” Hill did not wait long to execute premium throws, as Waynesburg went 11 plays for 63 yards and a touchdown on its first drive of the game to jump ahead 7-0. The touchdown came on a fourth-and-5 on the Wolverine 18-yard line when Hill See FOOTBALL on C3
Back in
After five picks in last three games, Hill sets season-high in passing By AUSTIN ANDERSON For the Yellow Jacket
Senior quarterback Carter Hill threw for 311 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-0 victory over Grove City Saturday afternoon. Hill’s performance was an improvement from last week’s effort, when he threw for 235 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Bethany the prior week. “I think [Hill] went out there and wanted to have some fun,” said Shepas. “I think he put a lot of expectations on himself and on us offensively, and forgot about the most important thing, which is to go out there and have fun. The way he was getting the ball out of his hands and getting it loose [showed us] he was back to the guy that we’re used to.” A common belief is in order to perform well, one must practice well. Shepas connected the dots between Hill’s practicing before the game and his performance Saturday. “I thought [Hill] had a better week of practice, [especially] on Wednesday and Thursday. [He] was very sharp, definitive [and the] game plan was pretty decisive about what we wanted to get done,” said Shepas. “The biggest thing [Hill] needed to do was see things [defensively]. Because of that, he was able to get the ball to some playmakers, and really make some big plays. We had some very big explosive plays in the game.”
Hill revealed that the offensive improvements were not really improvements, per se. “All week, it kind of was the back to basics week for us,” said Hill. “We went back to some plays that we put in on day one. And that’s how we got our premium looks.” Shepas went into further detail to clarify what Hill meant by basics. “We always look for the basic stuff early,” Shepas said. “When [Hill] says basics, he is talking about his comfort zone. We definitely try to do that.” One aspect that Hill and the Waynesburg offense excelled at was fourth down conversions. The team was 4 for 6 on fourth down conversions, three were passing “We always have our fourth down calls [and] our third down calls,” said Hill. “When we get into the red zone, its two-down territory and that’s something we take pride in on offense to convert on fourth down.” In fact, Hill’s first touchdown pass was on a fourthdown conversion. He tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Bernie Thompson. “I always know I can count on [Thompson] and all of the receivers to get open and they were playing man coverage there,” said Hill. “So I just threw it up and gave him a chance. Those guys make me look good all the time.” The longest play from scrimmage was a 91-yard touchdown screen pass by Hill to running back Willie
Men's soccer wins in 2OT By GENNARO BONAVENTURA For the Yellow Jacket
Creg Milko, Yellow Jacket
For the second consecutive year, the Waynesburg defense was able to keep Grove City off the scoreboard. Last season, the Jackets defeated the Wolverines 33-0.
the saddle
Leavell. Hill said Leavell was not the first option on that play though. “It wasn’t [designed],” Hill said. “It was a quick pass because he was uncovered. We had
them all.” Shepas agreed with Hill. “I’d rather not say we have a top guy,” said Shepas. “Although, last year, [Thompson] and [English] both had 69 catches. They are our two top guys. [Defenses] tip coverage
to one of those two guys. That in turn, opens things up to everybody else, and that’s where our strength is, because we do have other guys that do catch the ball and make plays.”
a different play on. We have those hot routes where if you are uncovered, I just get the ball out to the playmakers and let them do things like that.” Shepas commended Hill for noticing the defensive breakdown. “You could see the confusion in their defense,” said Shepas. “Their corner knew that they were misaligned. [Hill] saw the field, recognized it, [and] dumped it to [Leavell]. We didn’t even block anybody on that.” One of the reasons the offense was successful was because Hill spread his passes to six differen receivers. Four had 30-plus receiving yards. “That’s exactly what we want,” said Hill. “We line up in different formations to get people in different spots. They are all versatile, so they can do everything, and that’s what we want: to be more balanced.” Even though the offense is spread out, Hill has confidence in all of his receivers. “I always tell them, if it was my choice, they would all have five catches and a touchdown because they are all pretty balanced,” Hill said. “Obviously, our leaders are Andrew [English] and [Thompson]. In my mind, I trust
On a rainy Friday night at John F. Wiley Stadium the Waynesburg men’s soccer team came out a big winner in its first contest in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play against Grove City, as the Jackets won a hard fought 2-1 game in double overtime. When Grove City missed an opportunity on a corner kick with 50 seconds left in regulation, it quickly turned into one last opportunity for the Jackets. “A lot of us thought we had a tie once we saw the corner kick sail over the net,” said head coach Brad Heethius. “The guys never gave up, Brandon [Daughtry] got a good kick off and Cody Lemke did the rest.” When Lemke buried his chance into the net with 27 seconds in double overtime the Waynesburg players, bench and crowd erupted in excitement with the huge goal being the difference in a 1-1 tie. “Brandon got a good kick off, and I was just sprinting down the field hoping that the ball would get to me,” said Lemke. “Once it did, I just had one thing in mind: get it through to the back of the net.” Waynesburg's Daughtry finished the day with 13 saves, which garnered him with the PAC Defensive/ Goalkeeper Player of the Week and the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III South Co-Defensive Player of the Week. The Jackets got a huge win to start PAC play. According to senior Ray Melone, it’s always good to open up conference play with a win and get things rolling in the right direction. “To get that first win it felt great,” said Melone. “We never gave up, played hard, gritty defense, and won important individual battles to give us the chance to win a big game at home.” The Jackets overcame a lot to get the win, as they were outshot by a total of 31 to 8 and on corner kicks 10 to 3. “They took it to us in the first half pretty good,” said Heethuis. “We regrouped at half and came out the second half and played together and better.” Both Heethuis and Lemke agreed that improvements need to be made to make the PAC playoffs down the road. The Jackets will travel to Greenville, Pennsylvania to take on t he Thiel Tomcats Saturday. Match time is at 3 p.m.
With conference play heating up, men's soccer peaks at right time ROB LONGO Sports Editor
Timing is everything. Just ask the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team. Heading into this season, the Jackets had some uncertainty at the helm, as former head coach Carl Griffiths bolted for NAIA school Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi after being in charge of the men’s and women’s squads for two seasons. Enter new head coach Brad Heethuis, the third new coach in four seasons for the Jackets. After setting the highest winning percentage in program history in 2013, there were some questions head-
ing into the new year. A new coach, new system and in some cases, the potential for players to be utilized in different roles, which could have become issues for Jacket players. Unlike a traditional transitional period, Waynesburg went 1-0-2 in its first three games under new direction, scoring 10 goals in that span. Last year’s Jackets started off just as hot, scoring 11 goals in three matches. However, things began to unravel for a short period of time. The Jackets went on a three-game losing skid, and were outscored 7-2. But, since a 1-0 shutout on the road at Capital Sept. 12, Waynesburg has gone 4-11, including a 2-1 thrilling double-overtime win over Grove City.
Last year, the Jackets shut out the Wolverines 1-0 on the road, the first win against them since 2002. Three hundred and sixty four days later, Waynesburg pulled off the feat once again. The majority of credit for the victory can be credited to senior goalkeeper Brandon Daughtry, who was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Defensive Player/ Goalkeeper of the Week because of Friday’s performance. Daughtry made 13 saves and allowed one goal against Grove City. That lone goal came on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute. As of Tuesday, Daughtry was 19th in Division III in save percentage (.882). Tuesday, Daughtry was also lauded by the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Con-
ference Division III South Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Daughtry has been a rock on the end line all season for the Jackets, except for one hiccup. In Waynesburg’s 4-3 overtime win against Bluffton Sept. 27, Daughtry was forced to leave the game in the first half after injuring his head twice on two separate occasions. The Jackets had a 2-1 lead when Daughtry exited, and needed extra time to defeat a Bluffton team who was 4-7 heading into competition on Wednesday. But as in any other sport, non-conference games don’t really matter a whole lot. Overall records don’t need to be phenomenal for a team to pick up a wildcard spot in
the NCAA Division III Playoffs; that’s what the PAC automatic berth is for. And right now, the Jackets are peaking at the right time. After a lengthy eight days off, Waynesburg travels to Thiel to take on the Tomcats Saturday, a team that the Jackets beat 7-0 last year. After Thiel, Waynesburg hosts Bethany, a team that can swing into the top-four in the conference, but was projected to finish seventh in the PAC preseason coaches’ poll after losing two-time PAC Player of the Year Arkangelo James to graduation. However, the schedule then begins to get a little dicey for Waynesburg. The Jackets battle Thomas More, which was projected to win the conference this season. The good news, though, is
the fact that the Jackets play that match at home Oct. 18. Geneva and Washington & Jefferson also remain on the slate, which were projected to finish higher than the Jackets in the preseason poll. The only time Waynesburg made it to the PAC playoffs was in 2001, when the Jackets finished fourth in the conference. Waynesburg has a chance to make program history by not only making the playoffs, but by making some noise if it can find a top-four regular season finish. If Daughtr y can stay healthy and the Jackets can continue to produce on offense, Waynesburg can shock the conference. WU Footy has found its swagger again. And it just so happens to be at the perfect time.