BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College football team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta College, 34-13, before 5,297 fans on Community and Family Day at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea.
With its victory, the Yellow Jackets are now 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the OAC and next play on Saturday, October 3 at Mount Union College in Alliance at 7:00 p.m. The loss for the Pioneers, 2-1 overall, was their first this season and evened their OAC slate at 1-1.
B-W led 14-6 after one quarter, 27-6 at halftime and 34-13 after three quarters.
B-W opened the scoring at the 8:09 mark of the first quarter when junior running back Kyrell Crook (Columbus de Sales) reached the endzone on a five-yard run to cap a seven-play and 59-yard drive in 3:30. Junior placekicker Brad Pollock (Brecksville/ Brecksville-Broadview Heights) added the PAT kick for a 7-0 Yellow Jacket lead.
Marietta came right back at the 6:35 mark when sophomore quarterback Andrew Keller threw a 65-yard catch and run to fellow sophomore Jahmaal Jones, but the PAT kick was blocked by B-W senior cornerback Pete Taylor (North Olmsted), his fifth career kick block.
B-W increased its lead to 14-6 at the 2:21 mark of the opening stanza when sophomore RB Tim Miker (Parma/ Senior) scored on a one-yard run to cap a 9-play and 63-yard drive in 4:09. Pollock added the PAT kick.
The Jackets built a 20-6 lead at the 11:11 mark of the second quarter when junior RB John McGraw (North Ridgeville) ran 24 yards to paydirt, but Pollock's PAT kick was blocked. McGraw's run capped a seven-play and 91-yard drive in 2:51.
B-W's lead grew to 27-6 at the 5:25 mark when senior All-OAC QB Anthony Gardner (Rocky River/ Lakewood St. Edward) threw a 13-yard TD pass to sophomore tight end Dan Reineck (Woodstock, Ga./ Etowah) and Pollock added the PAT. The play capped a seven-play and 59-yard drive in 2:45.
Marietta got within 27-13 at the 8:45 mark of the third quarter when Keller threw a five-yard TD pass to freshman TE Nathan Willis and senior PK Corey Lemke tacked on the PAT to cap a 12-play and 79-yard drive in 6:11.
B-W countered quickly by driving 65 yards in three plays in 1:01 when Gardner threw a 48-yard TD strike to junior WR John Myers (Macedonia/ Nordonia) at the 7:38 mark and then Pollock made the PAT for a 34-13 lead.
Offensively, B-W was led by Gardner, McGraw, Miker and Crook. Gardner completed 13-of-19 passes for 193 yards with two TD. McGraw, who earned the Dick Miller B-W Outstanding Player of the Game award, led the running game with a career-high 151 yards in 21 attempts with a TD. Miker had 111 yards in 15 carries with a TD and had two catches for 39 more yards. Crook had 40 yards in seven attempts with a TD. Myers was the top receiver with two catches for 62 yards with a TD. On defense, junior outside linebacker Ryan Kish (Amherst/ Steele) led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles.
Marietta was led on offense by Keller and senior RB Lamar Hunter. Keller completed 17-of-32 passes for 211 yards with two TD and one interception. Hunter led all Pioneer runners with 88 yards in 15 attempts. Jones had a game-high 114 receiving yards with six grabs and a TD. Junior WR Cory Kriechbaum led all receivers with seven catches for 68 yards. The Pioneer defense was led by freshman defensive back Rahkeem Caver and sophomore linebacker James Bowell with eight stops each.
Following its game at Mt. Union on Oct. 3, B-W will play back-to-back home games versus Otterbein College on Saturday, October 10 at 2:00 p.m. and versus Muskingum College on Saturday, October 17 at 1:30 p.m.
FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
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Today's B-W versus Marietta game will be broadcast on television via tape delay later tonight on SportsTime Ohio. STO will show the game tonight at 11:00 p.m. EST. and on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 5:00 a.m. 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. B-W's Sept. 5 season-opener against Franklin (Ind.) College is already archived on its Web site at www.bw.edu/athletics/video/ and both last week's game at John Carroll University and this week's game versus Marietta should be archived by mid next week.
B-W Campus radio station WBWC, 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 B-W athletics teams.
