COLUMBUS, OHIO – Seven Baldwin-Wallace College senior football student-athletes, offensive tackle Travis Barnhill (Findlay), placekicker Dave Cantu (Amherst/ Marion Steele), safety Ryan Dugan (Mentor), defensive end Derron Hamilton (Euclid), Sonny Hazelwood (Elyria) tight end Aaron Hurd (Tiffin/Columbian) and linebacker Brett Thompson (Shelby), represented the College well in the 2012 Ohio Army National Guard Ohio College Senior Bowl, sponsored by the ohiocollegefootball.com web site and the U.S. Army National Guard.

Despite the North losing, 21-7, the game showed why the seven Yellow Jackets were tabbed as all-stars. The scoring started late in the first quarter when John Carroll University quarterback Devin O'Brien found Lake Erie College wide receiver Brandon James for a 10-yard touchdown. B-W's Dave Cantu added the point-after-touchdown kick (PAT) to give the North an early, 7-0 lead.

The South would respond with 14 straight points to take a 14-7 lead at halftime. But before the intermission, with less than a minute to play, DE Derron Hamilton had his first of two QB sacks.

Midway through the third quarter, the South was driving. But Yellow Jacket safety Ryan Dugan snuffed out the drive by intercepting a pass at the North 35-yard line.  The South scored its final touchdown following a North turnover for a 21-7 final.

All seven of the Yellow Jackets of the North squad ended their college careers with a solid game.

On defense, linebacker Brett Thompson was among the North leaders in tackles with five and combined with Hamilton on his second sack of the day. Hamilton had three tackles and was credited with a team-high 1.5 sacks. Dugan had two tackles, a QB sack and the only interception by the North. DE Sonny Hazelwood was a key component of a North defense that allowed the South just 76 rushing yards and sacked the South QBs four times.

On offense, OT Travis Barnhill and TE Aaron Hurd helped the North squad rush for 139 yards as well as control the time of possession. PK David Cantu added an extra point and averaged 64 yards on two kickoffs, compared to the South's 49-yard average on four attempts.

In 2011, the B-W football team had a solid 8-2 overall and 7-2 Ohio Athletic Conference record. All seven of these seniors were key reasons in that success.

Dugan, an exercise science major and one of four team captains, is a three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree, including earning first-team honors last fall. This season, he had 57 tackles, including 30 solo stops, and two interceptions. He had seven total pass breakups and recovered a fumble. Dugan ended his career with 186 tackles and 12 interceptions. His 12 thefts ranks fifth all-time in school history and his 45 career pass breakups is fourth all-time. He also earned OAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for a career-high 16-tackle performance in a 20-6 victory against Ohio Northern University and was B-W's Most Valuable Player to the Cleveland Touchdown Club.

Hurd, who is a business administration major, was a first-team All-OAC choice this season after being a second-team performer in 2010. He was third on the team in receiving with 12 catches for 193 yards and a TD. He also was a key blocker for a Yellow Jacket running game that accounted for 196.8 yards per game. Hurd ended his career with 54 catches for 627 yards and six TD.

Barnhill, a six-foot and three-inch and 295-pound tackle, was a first-team All-OAC selection last fall. He started all 10 games on an offense that ranked fourth in the OAC in total yardage (370.1 ypg.) and scoring (30.2 ppg.). Barnhill was a three-year starter.

Hamilton, a sport management major, was a three-year varsity contributor who had his best season as a collegian last fall. He was a first-team All-OAC choice and had a career-high 39 tackles, including an OAC-leading 15 tackles for loss and 11.0 quarterback sacks for minus 80 yards. His 11 QB sacks ranks fourth in Division III and were two shy of tying a B-W single-season record. He also recovered two fumbles and had one pass breakup. Hamilton ended his career with 75 tackles, including 20.5 tackles for losses and 15.5 QB sacks. He was named as the OAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in a 17-7 win at Marietta College.

Hazelwood, a business administration and marketing double major, was a three-year varsity contributor who started every game as a junior and senior. The first-team All-OAC pick transferred to B-W from OAC-rival Heidelberg University after his freshman season. Hazelwood finished third in the OAC in quarterback sacks with 7.5 and tied for third in tackles for loss with 13.0. He ended his career with 69 tackles, including 19.0 tackles for losses and 9.5 QB sacks. 

Thompson, a mathematics and education major, also was a first-team All-OAC selection in 2011.  He led the Yellow Jackets with 63 tackles, including 8.5 tackles for losses of 34 yards and 2.0 quarterback sacks. He also led the team with 35 solo tackles and with four interceptions, including two he returned for TDs. Thompson's 95-yard interception return for a TD in the win against ONU was a B-W and The George Finnie Stadium record. The four-year letterman and three-year starter leaves the program with 219 career tackles, including 28.5 tackles for losses and 7.0 QB sacks and five interceptions.

Cantu, a broadcasting/ mass communications major, was a three-year varsity letterman. He served as the kickoff specialists the last three seasons. He also served as the Yellow Jacket placekicker for a portion of his senior season and connected on two-of-three field goal attempts and five-of-nine extra point attempts for 11 total points.

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 Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.