#9 Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets Hosts Otterbein University Cardinals
Saturday, September 29, 2012
1:30 p.m.
Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium
Shriners' Day
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RADIO -- BW 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 WBWC Internet Web site atwww.wbwc.com. The pregame show generally starts 20 minutes prior to kickoff. For more information, please call the station offices at (440) 826-2145 or its listening line at (440) 826-2187. Senior Kelly Rosemond (krosemon@bw.edu) is the Sports Director.
TODAY'S GAME: The nationally-ranked Yellow Jackets enter this game with a 3-0 overall and 2-0 OAC record following their 13-6 overtime victory at OAC-rival Muskingum University in New Concord last Saturday (Sept. 22). BW has won four straight games dating back to last season.
The Cardinals enter this game at 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the OAC following a 21-7 win against John Carroll University last Saturday in Westerville. Otterbein also has won four straight games dating back to last season.
SERIES NOTES -- The Yellow Jackets and the Cardinals have previously met 44 times on the gridiron with Baldwin-Wallace holding a 36-7-1 series lead. The series began in 1925 with the Yellow Jackets defeating the Cardinals, 7-0, in Berea. A year ago, on October 8, 2011, B-W beat Otterbein, 27-21, in Westerville. The last Otterbein win came in 2009 when the Cardinals beat the Yellow Jackets, 21-17, in Berea.
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS -- Offensively, the Yellow Jackets averages 30.0 points and 403.0 yards of total offense per game, including 185.7 rushing and 217.3 passing yards. Ryan O'Rourke (Avon) runs the offense and has completed 38-of-76 passes for 50 percent with 648 yards and six TDs and four interceptions. He also has run the ball 16 times for 39 yards and one TD. In the backfield, Tyler Lohr (Kent/Roosevelt) will get the bulk of the carries and will be joined by sophomores Sebastian Zuluaga (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast), Nolan Sordyl (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and freshman Isaac Reed III (Lehigh Acres, Fla./Lehigh). Lohr tops the Yellow Jackets with 213 yards on 51 attempts with one TD. Reed is second with 117 yards in 18 attempts with one TD. Sordyl is third with 64 yards in 14 attempts with one TD. Zuluaga also has 64 yards in 19 attempts. The receiving corps are led by All-OAC junior WR and last week's OAC Offensive Player of the Week Josiah Holt (Elyria/Grafton Midview), juniors Gabe Adams (Hudson) and Cory Lanterman (Streetsboro) and senior tight end Josh Masters (Akron/Archbishop Hoban). Holt tops the team with 11 catches for 228 yards and three TD, Adams has six catches for 73 yards, Lanterman has four grabs for 119 yards and two scores and Masters has six catches for 91 yards and a TD. The line is anchored by senior Academic All-OAC tackle Clay Wolf (Parma Heights/Padua Franciscan) and junior guard Jason Cook (Streetsboro).
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets allow 15.7 points and 291.3 yards of total offense per game, including 134.7 on the ground and 156.7 through the air. BW has forced six turnovers and sacked the opposing QB 10 times. The defense is led by returning senior All-OAC tackle Max Wagner (Mentor), senior end Joe Fitch (Elyria/Elyria Catholic) and senior cornerback Brandon Russo (Olmsted Falls). Fitch has a team-high 3.5 QB sacks. Junior safety Zach Barley (Hudson) and junior linebacker Michael Stacchiotti (Girard) are tied with a team-high 18.
On special teams, BW has one of the top return groups in Division III in Holt, fellow junior and starting CB Kevin Johnson (Maple Heights/St. Ignatius) and punt return specialists in senior WR Pat LaGuardia (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan) and junior Kory Gillissie (Parma/ St. Ignatius). Holt (three), Johnson (two) and Gillissie (one) have combined for six return TDs in their first 22 games as Yellow Jackets. Holt averages 28.2 yards in four returns and Johnson averages 42.0 yards in four runbacks with a TD. The placekicker is junior Chris Mohler (Kent/Roosevelt) and the punter is junior Matt Harmon (Canfield). Mohler is 10-of-10 in PAT kicks and four-of-seven in field goals for 22 total points to lead the squad in scoring. Harmon is averaging 30.8 yards per punt with one landing inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
LAST WEEK AT MUSKINGUM -- In their overtime victory at Muskngum, the Yellow Jackets received a game-winning 22-yard touchdown pass from O'Rourke to Masters to secure the 13-6 win. BW trailed 6-3 entering the fourth quarter and tied the game at 6-6 when Mohler booted a 23-yard field goal with 9:51 to play. Mohler gave BW a 3-0 first quarter lead when he kicked a 22-yard field goal, but Muskingum countered with a touchdown but missed the extra point of to lead 6-3. Offensively, O'Rourke completed 13-of-31 passes for 166 yards with Masters catching a team-high five for 58 yards, including the game-winner. In addition, Adams caught a season-high four balls for 67 yards and Holt grabbed three for 34 yards. Lohr led the running game with 46 yards in 17 attempts, Sordyl had 43 on five carries and Zuluaga had 27 on nine trips. The defense was led by senior Academic All-OAC safety Tom Goebel (Parma/Padua Fransiscan) and Stacchiotti with six tackles each. In addition, the BW defense had four QB Sacks, including the fourth this season by Fitch.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS -- Offensively, Otterbein is scoring 30.0 points per game and averaging 289.7 yards of total offense, including 105.0 rushing and 184.7 passing yards. Senior QB Aaron Kingcade is the starter for the Cardinals and has completed 40-of-63 passes for 63.5% with 492 yards with three TDs and two interceptions. He also has rushed for a team-leading 103 yards and four TDs in 29 attempts. The feature back is senior Brock Burzanko who has 89 rushing yards in 39 attempts. The top receivers are junior WRs Steven Carpenter and Grant Smith, senior WR Trey Fairchild and Gabe Shively. Carpenter has a team-leading 10 receptions for 163 yards and one TD. Smith is third with seven grabs for 87 yards, Fairchild is second with eight catches for 98 yards and a TD and Shively has six grabs for 45 yards and one score. Also look for senior WR Chris Irwin to contribute.
Defensively, the Cardinals allow 5.7 points per game and 201.3 yards of total offense, including 79.3 rushing yards and 122.0 passing yards. Otterbein also has forced 12 turnovers (4.0 per game) and sacked opposing QBs 10 times (3.3 per game). OU is led up front by junior DE Zack Grieves with 16 total tackles, including five for loss, and junior DE Patrick Seesholtz, who is tied for first with 16 stops and has a team-leading 8.5 tackles for loss and three QB sacks. Senior Chad Pepper is the top linebacker and has 13 total tackles. In the secondary, senior CB Anthony Korpieski and sophomore safety Jaylin Kennedy each have a pair of interceptions. Korpieski earned OAC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 17 following a two-interception effort versus Wilmington when he returned both thefts for TDs.
On special teams, the placekicker is sophomore Nick Ganus and the punter is Kingcade. Ganus is 7-of-8 in PAT kicks and two-of-five in field goals for 13 total points. Kingcade is averaging 41.4 yards per punt, including two that have landed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Junior Alex Cameron and Fairchild return kickoffs well. Cameron averages 36.5 yards in two returns and Fairchild averages 35.5 yards in two runbacks. Korpieski has returned five punts for a 10.4-yard average.
LAST GAME AT MOUNT UNION -- In its last game, a 21-7 victory against John Carroll, the Cardinals led 14-7 at halftime and put the game away with an early fourth quarter TD. Offensively, Aaron Kingcade completed 15-of-24 passes for 238 yards with a 69-yard TD pass to Steven Carpenter in the fourth quarter and ran the ball 12 times for 33 yards and the other two TDs on runs of five yards in the first quarter and 13 yards in the second stanza. The Cardinals were held to just 47 rushing yards in 40 attempts. Carpenter led all receivers with five grabs for 129 yards and Trey Fairchild had three for 45 yards. The Cardinal defense was led by Patrick Seesholtz who had seven tackles, including four for loss.
