PC picks up win; prepares for old foe, Wofford

For the second year in a row, Presbyterian found its mojo against Virginia-Lynchburg at Bailey Memorial Stadium.

The Blue Hose got a second wind and found renewed focus after a lightning delay Saturday afternoon, scoring four unanswered second-half touchdowns in a 48-17 victory over the Dragons.

PC was clinging to a 20-17 lead when the game was delayed by more than an hour due to lightning in the area.

Then, the Blue Hose struck.

Cincere Gill, a junior transfer from McDougle Technical Insitute in Florida, caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Wesley with 9:12 left in the third quarter. Wesley scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

Dominic Kibby caught his second touchdown pass of the day from Wesley with 21 seconds left in the third quarter, and junior tight end Dylan Boone got the first touchdown reception of his career from Ty Englehart with 4:56 left in the game.

“The weather delay really gave our guys a chance to reset and they kind of had a ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting with one another,” said PC head coach Steve Englehart. “I didn’t even talk to them during the delay. . . .

They knew what was expected of them. They knew what we wanted to do in regard to starting the third quarter, and I think that was a critical moment with our team in regards to how leadership stepped up during the delay.”

PC also scored the last 10 points of the first half with momentum from an interception returned for a touchdown by freshman defensive back Caleb Francis with a minute left in the second quarter.

But the Dragons (0-2) blocked a punt in the opening minutes of the second half, and Ronald Stephens returned it 4 yards for a score, cutting PC’s lead to 20-17.

The 48-point total was the most scored by PC since 65-55 loss at Valparaiso on Nov. 6, 2021.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Wesley  completed 14 of 22 passes for 240 yards and three scores. He also rushed nine times for 67 yards, leading the way in a 227-yard rushing performance by the Blue Hose.

The PC defense also sacked two VUL quaterbacks seven times and held the Dragons to minus-8 yards rushing.

Both of PC’s victories in 2022 and 2023 have come at VUL’s expense, but last year’s 21-13 victory over the Dragons was received differently by the Blue Hose players, Englehart said.

“Last year, they didn’t know how to celebrate a win,” he said. “This year, the way we won, we were able to sing ethe fight song in to our crowd after the game and celebrate in the lockeroom, and the way they celebrated was fun to see.”

After beating VUL for the second time in as many meetings, the Blue Hose (1-1) travel to an old rival this week at Wofford (0-2), which has lost to ACC opponent Pitt (45-7) and 23-6 at William & Mary, ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.

Wofford and PC have met 84 times since 1914, and the Terriers own a slim 41-40-3 advantage over the Blue Hose in the series. Wofford has won the past seven meetings, a streak that dates back to 1995.

“Wofford is big, strong and tough, and (our guys) are going to get punched in the mouth, so we’ve got to get better offensive line play out of our guys this week,” Englehart said.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Wofford’s Gibbs Stadium.