Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Washington & Jefferson College football team, led by record-breaking senior quarterback Bobby Swallow from West Branch High, will make its sixth straight NCAA Division III playoff appearance today at home in Cameron Stadium at noon against Christopher Newport University.
But while Swallow has been high-powering W&J’s offense the last four years and recently was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player, the Presidents also have enjoyed an unsung hero over the span: senior linebacker John Fahey from Boardman High, who just has a “nose” for making tackles.
“You have to have nose for ball if you want to play linebacker, and I have good nose for the ball,” said Fahey, in his second year as a starting linebacker after being a special teams starter and backup linebacker as a freshman and sophomore.
Fahey is tied for No. 8 on the team in tackles this season with 25.5 on 16 solo stops and 19 assists, with 5.5 sacks for 30 yards. And for his 39 games over his four-year career, he has 136 total tackles on 71 solo stops and 65 assists, with 14.5 tackles for a losses and four sacks, four forced fumbles and one interception, and a 35-yard TD return last year against Thomas More.
Fahey in fourth straight postseason, 28th start
Fahey, who who be playing in his fourth straight postseason game and making his 28th career start, has the instinct and the ability to find the ball carrier.
“My best asset probably is running to the ball. Reading the plays is how I get most of my tackles, having a good read on the play,” said Fahey, who studies the opposing team’s offensive guards, tackles and running backs as they approach the line of scrimmage, and gauges their reactions.
Fahey is hoping for a big game today as W&J (9-1), coached by Mount Union graduate Mike Sirianni, seeks its fourth straight win over Christopher Newport (8-1) of Fayetteville, N.C., and the USA South Athletic Conference.
The Presidents lead the series over the Captains, 3-0, with all of the wins coming in the playoffs.
Sirianni, a former Mount Union wide receiver and assistant coach in his sixth year at the helm, has guided W&J to a 59-9 record, including 39-5 for the last four years aided by Swallow and Fahey.
Also expected to see action for W&J is freshman defensive back Neil Sorice (Canfield), who is on all the special teams. He has played in seven games and has five total tackles on four solo stops and three assists with one sack for 13 yards lost.
Other area players on the W&J roster are senior Josh Linton (DB-RB), New Castle Laurel; junior Mike Wamsley (DL, East Liverpool); sophomores Mark Pleiss (OL, Warren JFK) and Nick Puckett (RB, Southern), redshirt freshman Joe Winters (RB, Columbiana); and freshmen Steve McNeely (QB, West Branch).
Fahey recalls W&J’s escape in 2006 playoffs
Fahey vividly recalls W&J’s 2006 playoff game against Christopher Newport, when the Presidents took a 27-0 lead but barely escaped with a 27-23 win — thanks to three interceptions made by teammate Nick Cherish.
“The first thing that pops into my mind is that Nick Cherish had an interception when they were marching [to our] 3-yard line and we were leading, 27-23. That interception saved the game because they would have taken the lead,” said Fahey, a psychology major with about a 2.9 grade-point average who is planning to graduate next May.
After graduation, Fahey would like to return home to attend graduate school in physical therapy at Youngstown State.
X John Kovach covers colleges for The Vindicator.. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.