BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University football team rallied from 15 points down but it was not enough as it fell crosstown rival and No. 9-nationally ranked John Carroll University by a final score of 24-21 in the 29th Battle for the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy inside The George Finnie Stadium.
John Carroll (1-1, 1-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) kicked the game-winning field goal with 9:07 remaining in the fourth quarter to secure its fifth straight series victory. The Blue Streaks now lead the all-time series by a margin of 28-25-4 and the Gold Bowl series by a count of 16-13.
BW (1-1, 0-1 OAC) was led by junior quarterback Jake Hudson (East Lake, Fla.) as accounted for 197 of the 347 Yellow Jacket total yards. Hudson completed five of 14 passes for 132 yards and one touchdown, carried the ball 12 times for 41 yards and caught one pass for 24 yards. Senior All-OAC running back Austin Smith (Broadview Heights/North Royalton) led the ground attack as he rushed for 92 yards on 12 carries with a 70-yard touchdown. Junior wide receiver Rob Wolfington (Rapids City, Mich./Elk Rapids) led the receiving corps with 96 yards on three catches with a 78-yard touchdown. Wolfington was named the BW Dick Miller Player of the Game for his efforts.
The Blue Streak air attack was led by sophomore quarterback Anthony Moeglin as he completed 19 of 34 passes for 222 yards and one touchdown. Junior running back Sam Kurka led all rushers with 69 yards on 13 carries. Junior wide out Eddie Williamson led the receivers with seven catches for 54 yards.
John Carroll scored the lone points of the first quarter when Ro Golphin scampered four yards for the touchdown at the 10:09 mark. Matt Danko tacked on the extra to give the Blue Streaks the 7-0 lead.
John Carroll added to its lead when Stan Elad II scored on a one-yard run. Danko added the PAT to extend the lead to 14-0 at 14:57 of the second quarter. The Yellow Jackets got on the board and cut into the lead down to 14-6 when sophomore tight end Pat Orsini (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville East) scored on a 33-yard pass play from senior wide receiver Will Vance (Centerville), who came in as the wildcat quarterback, at the 7:40 mark. The BW extra point was blocked. The Blue Streaks responded when William Woods scored on a 14-yard pass play from Moeglin with 1:22 remaining in the first half. Danko pushed the extra point through the uprights to make the score 21-6. The Yellow Jackets scored the final points of the first half when Smith rushed 70-yards for the touchdown. Freshman Brandon Vollmer (Pickerington/Central) added the extra point to cut the lead to 21-13 at the intermission.
BW scored the only points of the third quarter when Wolfington scored on a 78-yard pass play from Hudson at the 4:30 mark. The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 21-21 when senior quarterback John Kromalic (Copley) threw the two-point conversion pass to sophomore defensive lineman Sekou Imani (Dover).
John Carroll closed out the scoring when Danko connected on a21-yard field goal at the 9:07 mark.
BW returns to action on Saturday, September 23 when it travels to Alliance to face No. 2-nationally ranked the University of Mount Union in an OAC clash inside Mount Union Stadium at 1:30 p.m.
