Bison Rolls Past Waynesburg, 22-13

BETHANY, WV. (BethanyBison.com) – Behind a two-touchdown game from junior running back Raekwon Wright (Baltimore, MD./Patterson) the Bethany College Football team was lifted to a 22-13 win over Waynesburg University, Saturday night, Sept. 15, inside Bison Stadium.

The Bison continued to show their dominance on the field as they now move to 2-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Bethany is currently off to its best regular season and PAC play since the 2014 campaign when the Green and White started the year at 2-1 overall and ultimately went 5-0 in the PAC.

Freshman quarterback Dom Salinetro (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry) threw for 122 years on 9-of-17 passing with one touchdown and one interception to lead the Bison to the win. Four receivers shared the load, with junior Darius Taylor (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) leading the way with five receptions for 50 yards.

Wright rushed 22 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns, while senior Byron Mayers (Brownsville, Pa./Brownsville) and freshman TreVon Charles (New Castle, Pa/Union) tacked on another 78 and 41 yards, respectively.

The defensive end gave Waynesburg fits as they racked up four sacks on the night for a total of 24 yards, with six tackles-for-loss to add on another 27. Four Bison got their hands on the Yellow Jacket's quarterback, with senior Daniel Gibson (Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills) recording 1.5 sacks for 10 total yards, to go along with his seven tackless. Senior Will Gatling (Baltimore, Md./Northwestern) tallied a career-high 12 tackles, including a game-high 10 solo tackles.

Despite starting the game with a 31 yard kickoff return, the Bison struggled to get the wheels moving as they were forced to a three-and-out, putting the Yellow Jackets on their 12-yard line. Waynesburg utilized an eight-play, 88-yard drive to get itself on the board first, 7-0.

Neither team did much offensively in the following drives, as both teams traded punts. A Waynesburg 21-yard punt placed the Bison on the visiting 39-yard line for it's third drive. Salinetro threw a 39-yard pass to Wright in the first play to equal the score out, 7-7, with just over six minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Green and White took the lead in the second quarter with a five-play, 68-yard drive. After starting on it's own 41-yard line, Bethany began moving the chains up as a 22-yard Salinetro pass to Taylor resulted in a first down in Waynesburg territory. A pass interference call on the visitors put Bethany just five yards shy of the end zone. Wright rushed the final five yards to put the Bison up, 13-7.

Bethany closed the half with a 22-yard field goal off the foot of sophomore Sean Cole (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi). Cole's field goal gave the Bison a comfortable nine-point lead, 16-7, leading into halftime.

After a relatively quiet third quarter, the Yellow Jackets used a pick-six in the fourth quarter to get themselves within three of the Bison, 16-13.

That would be as close as the visitors would get, however, as the Green and White pulled ahead, 22-13, with just eight minutes remaining. Wright continued to shine for the offense as his 43-yard rush sealed the Bison's back-to-back wins.

Bethany hits the road next weekend as it travels to Westminster College Saturday, Sept. 22, for a 1 p.m. kickoff.