This past week was an unusual one for the Waynesburg University football team.

John F. Wiley stadium, the home field for the Yellow Jackets, suffered severe flooding Sept. 10. Because of that, practices for the next three days started early in the morning at approximately 5 a.m. as opposed to later in the afternoon.

The tumultuous week culminated Saturday night in Bethany, West Virginia with the Jackets (0-3, 0-2) falling to the Bison (2-1, 2-0) by a score of 22-13, and dropping to 0-3 for the third year in a row.

Head coach Chris Smithley didn’t see the scheduling adjustment as an excuse for the loss and felt the team can learn lessons that go beyond football as a result of the circumstances.

“We’re a young football team, and we need to be able to deal with sudden changes,” Smithley said. “This means more than football. This is life. We’re all going to face adversity, but how we react in those times when we have to face that adversity is vital.”

Waynesburg scored first against the Bison less than five minutes into the game on a 46-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Jake Dougherty. Freshman Garrett Horne’s extra point made it 7-0, capping a six play, 88-yard drive that lasted 3:07.

After both teams went three-and-out following Waynesburg’s opening drive, a 21-yard punt by freshman Nik Gibson gave the Bison prime field position at the Waynesburg 39-yard line. Bethany cashed in one play later as freshman quarterback Dom Salinetro threw a touchdown pass to junior running back Raekwon Wright. Freshman Collin Williams converted the PAT to tie the game. It was the start of a big night for Wright, who gained 147 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns while adding another touchdown and 47 yards through the air.

The score would stay at 7-7 through the rest of the first quarter. With 7:15 left in the half, Wright scored his first of two rushing touchdowns to cap a five-play, 68-yard scoring drive. Williams’ extra point was no good, but Bethany now had a six-point lead. After the Jacket offense went three-and-out—and lost 22 yards in the process—the Bison took over at their own 48-yard line with 3:20 left in the half. Bethany capped off that drive with a 22-yard field goal by sophomore Sean Cole, and the teams went into the locker room with Bethany ahead, 16-7.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, with each punting twice and Waynesburg turning the ball over on downs toward the end of the frame. The Jackets made it a one-possession game with 7:48 to play in the fourth, when junior defensive back VaShon Graham’s first collegiate interception went for a 76-yard touchdown. Horne’s extra point was no good, but Waynesburg now trailed by just a field goal.

Bethany put the game away less than three minutes later, however, on Wright’s second rushing touchdown and third total touchdown of the day, this one from 43 yards out to cap a five-play, 85-yard drive.

Overall, the Bison outgained Waynesburg 378-275. Bethany picked up 256 yards on the ground – 223 of which came from Wright and senior Byron Meyers, who picked up 78 yards – while Waynesburg rushed for a season-best 135 yards, 72 of which came from junior Chad Walker on 15 carries. Salinetro ended the night going 9-17 for 122 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while Perone went 8-16 for 97 yards.

Smithley said he decided to switch the quarterbacks at halftime because Perone’s style of play gave the Jackets the best chance to make a comeback.

“Jake is a more of a threat to run the football,” Smithley said. “The thing that we needed to do is we needed to throw the ball around. Tyler has more success throwing the ball around, so we did what we felt as a coaching staff was the best move for us to try and make a comeback on that team.”

Perone started the game in week two against Westminster before being pulled after throwing an interception on Waynesburg’s first drive. Now, with a larger sample size, he felt comfortable as the starter.

“I felt great,” Perone said. “I knew what I was looking at, I knew everything that I needed to get done. It’s just when we’re in the game that late and they’re making adjustments, I didn’t get to see them early on. Other than that, I felt good back there and I knew what I needed to do.”

Waynesburg won the time of possession battle, having the ball for 30:54 to Bethany’s 29:06. Like last week against Westminster, however, the Jackets failed to capitalize on red zone chances. Against the Titans, Waynesburg drove the ball to within the Titans 5-yard line twice, but could only manage three points out of those two drives. Saturday, the Jackets got the ball to Bethany’s 13-yard line early in the second quarter, but came up empty handed when Horne’s 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Jackets down by nine, Waynesburg drove the ball to the Bison 19-yard line, but a sack and an incomplete pass put the Jackets out of field goal range and set up a fourth-and-17, which Waynesburg failed to convert.

“We are really good at shooting ourselves in the foot, every chance we get,” Perone said. “That’s just something that we can’t do…we’re not going catch a break, so we have to focus on moving the ball forward and never taking any negative plays.”

Overall, Smithley saw Saturday’s loss as one filled with missed chances.

“We had our opportunities,” he said. “We had some guys open, we made some throws, and we missed the exchanges. That’s a matter of (having to be) on the same page and getting the job done when we needed to.”