Eleven.

That number represents the combined margin of victory in Waynesburg football’s four wins thus far in the 2018 campaign.

Now sitting at a 4-4 mark after the bye week with a 4-3 conference record, the Yellow Jacket football team is just one win away from becoming eligible for a bowl game.

The two teams that stand in Waynesburg’s way, however, are the two atop the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The first challenge lies in the #20 Case Western Reserve University Spartans.

“These are two big games,” said Waynesburg head football coach Chris Smithley. “Getting healthy is our priority. We were beat up from the past couple of games and the bye came at the right time. Having our guys feel better is pretty important, but any time that you have any extra time to prepare for a team like Case Western certainly helps.”

Last year, Waynesburg traveled to Case Western and it was soundly defeated by a 56-21 final tally. The defense allowed nearly 600 total yards of offense, led by Spartan quarterback Rob Cuda. Cuda has since graduated, but a new face has taken over under center in freshman Drew Saxton. The South Fayette native leads the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in passing yards, passer efficiency, touchdowns thrown and total offense.

“We’re going to apply pressure [on Saxton] when it’s the right time, and I’m fully confident that our defense can do that,” Smithley said. “We know [Saxton] is good, we know he’ll get his yards, we just have to find a way to get to him.

One of the biggest improvements Waynesburg has seen this year is in pass defense. Despite not intercepting many passes this year, the secondary has surrendered the fewest passing yards per game in the conference. Senior Justin Willkow leads the way defensively after earning second-team All-PAC laurels a year ago. When him and senior teammate John-Glen Davis are both in the starting lineup, the Yellow Jackets are 4-1.

“We knew we had 11 people that were going to come back and get some playing time,” said Willkow. “Not playing left a void in the defense, so when I came back, we got on board. The night I came back John-Glen Davis was out [with an injury] and we ended up losing that game. So, when we’re all healthy I think we can compete with anybody in the PAC.”

Despite the quarterback change, Willkow sees a lot of similarities with the current offense ran by Saxton as opposed to the graduated Cuda.

“They’re going to come right out of the gates and throw often,” said Willkow. “Their game plan hasn’t changed. Cuda was one of the best quarterbacks that I’ve played against since I’ve been [at Waynesburg University]. Saxton is young and he’s getting a lot of the spotlight because he’s playing at such a high level as a freshman.”

The Yellow Jackets will kick off against Case Western Reserve University on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2:00 p.m.