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Washington & Jefferson College scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away to a 48-26 victory over the Bearcats on the road in Washington, PA.

SVC led for much of the first half, but could not hold off a strong Presidents offense in the second half despite out-gaining the hosts on the afternoon. 

The Bearcats struck first, scoring on the fourth play of the game, as Derek Stewart completed a long pass to DJ Oceant-Kelly, who then stiff-armed his way past two defenders for a 56-yard touchdown.  The Sam Elliott point after made it 7-0 just over 90 seconds into play.
 
The hosts came right back, putting together a 12-play, 67-yard scoring drive to tie the game at 7-7 after an Austin Kemp 4-yard run to the end zone with 9:06 on the clock.
 
Saint Vincent reclaimed the lead on the next possession, as Stewart hit Ryan Crawford for a 21-yard TD pass.  The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Bearcats ahead by six, 13-7 at the 5:33 mark. 
 
This time, the Presidents' needed just over a minute to score, at Pete Coughlin connected with Cody Hearst for a 42-yard gain on the first play of the drive, then capped the drive with a 16-yard pass to Jake Cullen in the end zone.  The PAT gave W&J their first lead, 14-13, with 4:32 left in the first quarter.
 
After a Bearcat punt, the hosts extended the lead to 21-13 with just 33 seconds left in the first quarter, scoring on a 7-play, 30-yard drive that was set up by a short SVC punt into the wind and a 15-yard penalty for fair catch interference. 

Early in the second quarter, SVC closed the gap when Stewart threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Damon Black Jr to make the score 21-19.  Elliott made the point after to make it a one-point game, but a penalty on the Presidents' resulted in the Bearcats taking the point off the board, moving the ball closer and going for a 2-point conversion attempt.  However, the attempt failed, leaving the score 21-19.
 
The Bearcat defense then stopped W&J on its next drive, forcing a punt.  Stewart quickly completed a 10-yard pass to Black, followed by a 35-yard strike along the sideline to Oceant-Kelly, moving the ball to the W&J 43.  Shavonta Craft broke free on the next play for a 42-yard run, taking the ball inside the one yard line.  Two plays later, Stewart threw a pass into the corner of the end zone, where Oceant-Kelly made a one-handed touchdown catch with a defender in close quarters. The play drew a penalty that the Bearcats declined.  Elliott's extra point put SVC in front 26-21.
 
However, the Presidents came right back with a 16-play, 80-yard scoring drive to take a 27-26 lead with 2:14 remaining in the first half.  Black blocked the extra point attempt.
 
Saint Vincent took over the ball with 2:09 remaining in the half and drove 44 yards in 12 plays, but Elliott's 33-yard field goal attempt as time expired was wide right, leaving the hosts in front by a point as the teams headed to the locker room.
 
The second half belonged to the Presidents, as they tallied three touchdowns while keeping Saint Vincent off the scoreboard. 
 
For the day, Saint Vincent had the edge in yardage, 531 to 443, but the Bearcats tallied just 169 in the second half. 
 
Stewart completed 30 of 47 passes on the day for 418 yards and four touchdowns, but was sacked 5 times on the day.  Three Bearcat receivers surpassed 100 yards on the day, led by Black with 111 yards on 8 receptions.  Crawford also caught 8 passes for 101 yards, while Oceant-Kelly had six catches for a game-high 127 yards.  Craft added 5 catches for 50 yards.
 
On the ground, Craft carried 14 times for 75 yards while Jhanard Dorsett had three runs for 35 yards. 
 
Defensively, Matt Jenkins had 13 tackles, while Cody Henry had 12 including a sack.  Devin Anderson made 9 stops.
 
For W&J, Pete Coughlin was 15-20 through the air for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns, and was also the team's leading rusher with 18 carries for 126 yards.  Austin Kemp carried the ball 34 times for 113 yards.
 
Saint Vincent is now 4-4 overall, 2-4 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.  W&J is now 6-2 overall, 4-2 in the conference.

The Bearcats will host Waynesburg University at Chuck Noll Field on Saturday (November 5).  It will be Senior Day for Saint Vincent.