BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College football team, 0-2 overall, lost at Cleveland cross-town and Ohio Athletic Conference rival John Carroll University, 43-29, tonight (Saturday, September 19, 2009) at Don Shula Stadium in University Heights, Ohio. The game was the OAC opener for each school and produced the highest point total in series history.
The Yellow Jackets are now 0-1 in the OAC while JCU improves to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the OAC. B-W still leads the all-time series between the two rivals 23-22-4 and holds an 11-10 edge in the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl series. The previous high-scoring mark between the two squads came with a 37-33 JCU victory in 1996.
B-W led 7-6 after one quarter, JCU led 16-10 at halftime and 30-23 after three quarters.
JCU opened the scoring at the 7:34 mark to lead 6-0 when senior quarterback Jeff Javorek threw a four-yard touchdown pass to senior Nick Spahar but the Blue Streaks missed the point-after-touchdown attempt.
B-W came right back to take a 7-6 lead at the 3:38 mark when junior running back John McGraw (North Ridgeville) scored on a 2-yard run and junior placekicker Brad Pollock (Brecksville/ Brecksville-Broadview Heights) made the PAT to highlight a 10-play, 62-yard drive in 3:38.
B-W increased its lead to 10-6 at the 13:20 mark of the second quarter when Pollock nailed his second field goal of the season, this one from 20 yards out to cap a 10-play, 51-yard drive in 4:14.
JCU regained the lead at 13-10 when it travelled 72 yards in nine plays in 3:59 and sophomore RB DaQuan Grobsmith caught a 27-yard swing pass from Javorek and found the endzone and then freshman PK Brad Marchese made the extra point.
JCU ended the first half scoring when Marchese hit a 25-yard field goal to give the Streaks a 16-10 advantage.
B-W tied the game at 16-16 on its first possession of the second half when McGraw scored his second rushing TD on a 9-yard run, but Pollock missed his first PAT of the season. The play capped a nine-play and 67-yard drive in 3:27.
JCU regained the lead at 23-16 with 8:35 left in the third quarter when Javorek passed 13 yards to senior WR Frank Ross for the TD and Marchese made the PAT to cap a 3-play and 44-yard drive in 1:47. The TD was set up when a B-W receiver fumbled after a pass reception.
JCU increased its lead to 30-16 with 6:55 left in the third when it again capitalized on a BW interception as Javorek threw a 10-yard TD pass to senior Scottie Williams and Marchese made the PAT.
The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit in half when junior RB Kyrell Crook (Columbus/ DeSales) scored on a run from two yards out and Pollock made the PAT to cap an 11-play and 57-yard drive that took 4:48 off the clock.
The Streaks answered with 14:05 left in the game when Javorek and Williams hooked up again, this time from seven yards out, to cap a three-play and 26-yard drive. A missed PAT kept the score at 36-23 in favor of JCU.
B-W responded with a 13 play, 80-yard drive that took 3:28 off the clock and ended in a Gardner to junior John Myers (Macedonia/ Nordonia) 7-yard TD pass with 6:40 left on the clock. A botched snap on the PAT try left the score at 36-29 in favor of the Blue Streaks.
The Yellow Jackets forced JCU to punt with just over two minutes remaining, but the Streaks were able to pin B-W back at its own one. A Yellow Jacket fumble then set JCU up at the three and the Streaks capitalized with a TD-run from Kenneth Owens and a PAT to make the score 43-29.
Ofensively, B-W was led by Gardner who completed 25-of-39 passes for 264 yards and ran for another 56 on 12 carries. Sophomore RB Tim Miker (Parma/ Senior) had 58 yards rushing on 12 carries and senior WR Matt Dash (Medina/ Buckeye) caught four balls for 58 yards. On defense, senior cornerback Pete Taylor (North Olmsted) recorded a team-high 10 tackles.
JCU was led on offense by Javorek who completed 30-of-51 passes for 309 yards and five TDs. Williams hauled in 11 catches for 129 yards. Defensively, senior linebacker Jim Gilchrist totaled a game-high 14 tackles.
he Yellow Jackets are back in action next Saturday, Sept. 26 when they host AC rival Marietta College on Community and Family Day at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea at 6:30 p.m. The annual picnic in the North Quad (good weather)/ Strosacker College and Student Union (inclement weather) begins at 4:30 p.m. The football game begins at 6:30 p.m. For more information, please call the BW Alumni House at 440-826-2104 or visit the web at www.bw.edu/alumni.
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The B-W versus JCU game will be broadcast on both television and radio. SportsTime Ohio will show the game on a delay basis on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 11:00 p.m. EST. and on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 12:00 noon. For more information, please log onto the SportsTime Ohio Web site at www.sportstimeohio.com. Nine of 10 Yellow Jacket games this season are on STO with eight replays for a total of 13 viewing opportunities. BW's Sept. 5 season-opener against Franklin (Ind.) College is already archived on its Web site atwww.bw.edu/athletics/video/ along with many other past Yellow Jacket football and basketball games.
B-W Campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, broadcasts all home and away Yellow Jacket football games. You also can listen to the games live via the WBW Internet Web site at www.wBW.com. The pregame show generally starts 20 minutes prior to kickoff.
Every Tuesday evening during football season, B-W campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, will carry the John Snell Show live and over the Internet from Mike's Bar and Grille in Berea. During the show, the WBW sports team have plenty of giveaways for fans in attendance.
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The Yellow Jacket football team is currently selling "Tackle Cancer" t-shirts for $10 each to benefit the Taussig Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic. For more information, please call Head Coach John Snell at 440-826-2069. The Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine Division is the official health care provider for BW athletics teams.
