\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0WASHINGTON, Pa. \u2013 Junior RB Eric Walker (New Brighton, Pa.) tied the Bethany College football all-time touchdown record, but Washington & Jefferson scored on their first four offensive possessions and never looked back in posting a 59-21 victory over the visiting Bison Saturday night in the PAC opener for both teams.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Presidents took the opening kickoff and drove 58 yards in eight plays for the first touchdown of the night, which came on a 15-yard run by Tim McNerney. Freshman QB Matt Grimard (Lowell, Mass.\/Dracut) was picked on the Bison\u2019s first possession and the INT was returned to the BC four. On the next play, McNerney burst into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Presidents would continue to put points on the scoreboard throughout the first half, as QB Gino Rometo threw a pair of scoring passes and Josh Buckley returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown as well during the opening two periods.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bethany\u2019s best possession of the first half came after W&J scored to make it 45-0 with less than a minute left in the second quarter. Grimard hit freshman WR Chris Collins (Youngstown, Ohio\/Ursuline) for a 14-yard pass play and then he connected with sophomore WR C.J. Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla.\/University Christian) with a 38-yard completion to get deep into President territory. The Bison reached the W&J four-yard line, but a pass into the end zone on the final play of the half was intercepted and the score stood at 45-0 at intermission.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A long scoring pass by W&J on their first possession of the third quarter was answered by the Bison\u2019s first scoring drive. A six-play, 75-yard drive was highlighted by a 34-yard run by Grimard. Bethany found paydirt when Walker scored on a two-yard run, his fourth of the year and 30th career touchdown to tie the Bethany all-time record, originally set by Will Anderson during his career from 1999-2002.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Presidents answered with another touchdown, but the Bison came right back to reach the end zone for a second time. Grimard again highlighted a nine-play, 75-yard march with another long run, this one covering 39 yards. Freshman Nico Irizarry (Youngstown, Ohio\/Ursuline) \u00a0also had a big play with an eight-yard run on third down and seven on the drive, which was capped by a six-yard keeper to the end zone by Grimard.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bethany\u2019s defense forced a fumble on W&J\u2019s next drive, which was recovered by junior DB Jeff Joyce (Pittsburgh, Pa.\/Baldwin). The Bison went down the field for the final score of the game, needing nine plays to go 71 yards, with the big play being a 12-yard completion from Grimard to Thomas on fourth down and nine. The final play of the drive was a 27-yard touchdown pass from Grimard to sophomore WR Marcus D\u2019Aguiar-Alexander (Waldorf, Md.\/Frederick Douglas) and freshman Robert Headden (Union Port, N.J.\/Keyport) knocked his third extra point of the game through the uprights to make it 59-21 for the final margin.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Bison offense was keyed by Grimard, who rushed for 129 yards on 19 carries for his second consecutive 100-yard rushing effort. He also completed 10-of-18 through the air for 140 yards and the one score. His top receiver was Thomas with three catches with 61 yards.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In addition to recovering the fumble, Joyce had seven tackles to lead the Bison defense, while senior DT John Gyure (Pittsburgh, Pa.\/Brentwood) had five hits, including one sack.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bethany will return home next Saturday to host Geneva under the lights at Bison Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0WASHINGTON, Pa. \u2013 Junior RB Eric Walker (New Brighton, Pa.) tied the Bethany College football all-time touchdown record, but Washington & Jefferson scored on their first four offensive possessions and never looked back in posting a 59-21 victory over the visiting Bison Saturday night in the PAC opener for both teams. \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college"],"yoast_head":"\n