Swallow powers W&J past Thiel
The Tomcats couldn’t match the Presidents in the second half.
GREENVILLE — During the first half of Saturday’s PAC matchup between Washington & Jefferson and Thiel, the two teams decided absolutely nothing as they each scored a touchdown and field goal for a 10-all deadlock.
However, during the third period, the Presidents, led by All-American candidate Bobby Swallow (West Branch), scored 17 unanswered points to give them some separation from the Tomcats (0-3, 0-1) en route to a 34-24 win at Alumni Stadium.
“We were playing without our best back, but once we were able to run the ball, we were able to take some of the pressure off Bobby [Swallow],” W&J coach Mike Sirianni said. “I just told the guys at halftime, ‘Hey, we are in a game where we aren’t playing very well and they are.’
“We regrouped and made some adjustments at halftime and I am happy with the way the guys responded.”
While tossing the touchdown aerial covering 47 yards to Craig Besong during the first period, Swallow surpassed the 6,000-yard mark for his career.
Swallow finished 21-of-35 for 253 yards and a pair of scores for the Presidents (3-0, 1-0), giving him 6,189 yards and 74 touchdowns with seven regular season games remaining.
“I try not to think about the numbers,” Swallow said. “I know it is talked about a lot, but is that is what it takes for our team win, that is what I want to do. All I ever do is try and put our team in its best possible situation to win the game.”
Sirianni didn’t panic when it was 10-10.
“I think we are well coached and to be honest about it, I think Thiel might be the best-coached team in the conference,” Sirianni said. “I knew they [the Thiel coaches] were going to have them ready to play so there was no panic on our part.”
Thiel coach Jack Leipheimer liked some of the things he saw from his club.
“I am very pleased with the way our kids came out and played today,” Leipheimer said. “We finally played like we are capable of playing.
“W&J is a heckuva football team and there is no question about it. We had our chances and that is all you can ask for.”
Prior to halftime, the Presidents had an opportunity to take the lead, but a fumble on fourth down by Swallow ended the drive as the Thiel defense kept the Presidents out of the end zone.
“I never even got the ball,” Swallow said. “I think one of their defensive players yelled ‘Go!’ and our center mistook that for me. I never even got the snap so it is just one of those plays that hopefully won’t happen again.”
Working from the shotgun formation most of the time, Swallow uses a different approach to getting the snap. Instead of using a pumping motion of his foot so the center can visually see that he is ready, he claps his hands.
“That [clapping of the hands] lets the center know that I am ready to get the ball,” he said. “We picked it up off West Virginia a couple of years ago. He snaps the ball and yells ‘Go!’ to let the other linemen know when the snap has been made.”