BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College football team defeated Muskingum University, 29-17, today (Saturday, October 29, 2011) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game on the Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.  The win set up a showdown next Saturday in Alliance between No.2-ranked Mount Union and B-W. 

Today was Professor Appreciation Day where the each senior football student-athlete recognized a member of the faculty who has made a difference in his B-W experience.

The victory for the Yellow Jackets was their fourth straight and improved B-W to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the OAC. It also improved B-W's all-time record against Muskingum to 40-13-2.   The loss was the fourth straight for Muskingum and drops the Fighting Muskies to 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the OAC.  B-W led 7-0 after one quarter, 14-7 at halftime and 22-14 after three periods.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the 5:59 mark of the first quarter when junior quarterback Ryan O'Rourke (Avon/ Senior) threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Aaron Manders (Toledo/ Cardinal Stritch) to complete a 2-play and 43-yard drive. Sophomore placekicker Chris Mohler (Kent/ Roosevelt) made the PAT kick.

The Fighting Muskies tied the score 7-7 at the 14:56 mark of the second stanza when sophomore QB Dalton Smith threw a 16-yard strike to senior Ronnie Graham to complete a 3-play and 14-yard drive that was set up by a 61-yard punt return by junior Andrew Davis. Freshman PK Caleb Carpenter made the PAT kick.

B-W regained the lead at 14-7 at the 8:36 mark of the second quarter when sophomore WR/ cornerback Kevin Johnson (Maple Heights/ Cleveland St. Ignatius) caught a 55-yard TD toss from junior QB Andrew Dziak (Maple Heights/ Parma Padua Fransiscan)  to complete a 3-play and 56-yard drive.  Mohler's PAT kick again was good. 

In the third quarter, B-W extended its lead to 16-7 when senior defensive tackle Max Wagner (Mentor) recorded his second safety this season when he sacked Dalton Smith in the endzone at the 6:52 mark.  Wagner again came up big with three minutes left in the stanza when he again sacked Smith and forced a fumble deep in Yellow Jacket territory. 

O'Rourke said thank you to Wagner two plays later when he scampered by the Yellow Jacket bench en route to a 71-yard TD run. Unfortunately, the Jacket kicker  missed the PAT and B-W led 22-7 with 2:06 left in the third period. 

Undaunted, the Muskies came right back and travelled 49 yards in two plays and scored when Smith passed 43 yards to sophomore WR James Washington, who caught the ball at the B-W 20-yard line and ran untouched the rest of the way. Carpenter's PAT kick made the score 22-14 with 1:39 left in the third.

Muskingum closed to 22-17 with 11:11 left in the contest when Carpenter nailed a 40-yard field goal that hit the middle of the uprights and went forward. The kick capped an 8-play and 24-yard drive following ba B-W punt. 

The Yellow Jackets got a big touchdown thanks to another quarterback sack. Following a sack and forced fumble by senior defensive end George "Sonny" Hazelwood at the Muskie 10-yard line, B-W took over at the Muskingum two. Following a number of plays and penalties by both squads, O'Rourke lofted a 7-yard scoring pass to senior WR Troy Van Meter (Gahanna/ Westerville North) with 6:00 left. Mohler's PAT kick gave B-W a 29-17 lead.

Offensively for B-W, O'Rourke, Dziak, Johnson, Manders and junior running back Tyler Lohr (Kent/ Roosevelt) led the way . O'Rourke completed 8-of-18 passes for 83 yards and two TDs. He  also ran for 60 yards in six attempts with the 71-yard TD run. Dziak was 2-of-4 passing for 64 yards and a TD and ran for 10 yards in 10 carries. Lohr was the top runner with 86 yards in 18 attempts.  Johnson and Manders each had a team-high two catches and a TD each. The defense was led by Wagner and Hazelwood. Wagner had eight tackles, including 2.5 QB sacks, four tackles for lost yardage, a forced a fumble and the third quarter safety. Hazelwood had six tackles, 2.5 sacks and four tackles for lost yardage.

The Muskingum offense was led by Dalton Smith as he completed 20-of-44 passes passes for 265 and two TDs with an interception. He also ran for a team-high 28 yards in 15 tries. Washington was the top receiver in the game as he caught seven balls for 141 yards with a TD. On defense, Muskingum was led by junior end Steve Stooksbury with a game-high 12 stops.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Saturday, November 5 when they will travel to Alliance to play  the Purple Raider of the University of Mount Union at 1:30 p.m.  Fans can listen to that game live on B-W campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, or via the WBWC Internet web site at www.wbwc.com.   

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 http://twitter.com/bwathletics.