WAYNESBURG, Pa. - The Westminster College football team absorbed a 63-26 loss at Waynesburg Saturday in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action. The Titans' record falls to 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in the league while the Yellow Jackets improve to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the PAC.
The Titans seemed doomed from the start as Waynesburg's Scott Cree returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. The Yellow Jackets then scored off two Westminster interceptions. The first by Dylan August set up Waynesburg at the Titan 21-yard line before Brad Dawson punctuated the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to David Younkins. The second was Cree returning a 40-yard interception for touchdown to put Waynesburg up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Westminster racked up 423 yards of total offense on 81 plays compared to Waynesburg with 399 yards on 58 plays. The Yellow Jackets scored quickly two more times as Dawson completed a 70-yard touchdown pass on the first play of a second-quarter drive to Ray Hightower II to put Waynesburg up 35-13 and August returned an intercepted pass 45 yards for a score in the fourth quarter.
The Titans threw five interceptions in the game including three by junior quarterback Kevin Franz (Finleyville, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) who finished the game with 22-of-36 passing for 221 yards and one touchdown. Freshman quarterback Shawn Lehocky (Conway, Pa./Freeport) completed 6 of 14 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions including August's return for a touchdown.
Three Westminster receivers established new career highs. Junior wide receiver Chad Rosatelli (Clinton, Pa./Hopewell) posted a career high with 116 receiving yards on six catches with a career-high two touchdown receptions from 2 and 25 yards, the first from Franz to cut the deficit to 28-13 in the second quarter and the second from Lehocky to trim the lead to 49-20 in the fourth quarter.
Junior receiver John Baummer (Reynoldsville, Pa./DuBois) set new career highs with five catches for 108 yards, while junior tight end Gary Hutsler (Coraopolis, Pa./Cornell) caught a career-high seven passes for 69 yards including a 17-yard touchdown pass from Lehocky in the fourth quarter.
Junior tailback Nick McKolosky (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop) rushed 23 times for 72 yards and a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to cut the Jackets lead to 21-6.
For Waynesburg, Dawson completed 20 of 30 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns. Hightower caught four passes for 101 yards and Chris Smithley snared five balls for 36 yards. Sophomore running back Bill Becker toted the ball 15 times for 120 yards and a score.
Defensively, senior cornerback Kiel Wolf (Corry, Pa./Corry) led the Titans with eight tackles as did Abdul Yusuff for Waynesburg with eight stops.
Westminster returns home Saturday, Oct. 18, for its Homecoming game vs. Bethany for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked 15th among liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly 2007 Annual College Guide. Westminster is a national leader in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 368 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and was recognized by the Templeton Guide as a "Character Building College."
Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus.
