Posted: Oct 12, 2013
BEREA, Ohio – Senior multi-purpose threat Josiah Holt (Elyria/Grafton Midview) ran for three touchdowns as the Baldwin Wallace University football team beat visiting Ohio Northern University, 38-17, in an Ohio Athletic Conference game on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium before 5,155 Homecoming fans.
For his efforts, Holt earned the Frank Roppolo Homecoming Player of the Game award. He totaled 234 all-purpose yards as he gained 184 yards in 15 rushing attempts with three TDs and caught three passes for 50 yards.
The game was tied 7-7 after one quarter, BW led 19-7 at halftime and 31-10 after three periods. The Yellow Jackets outgained the Polar Bears, 478-405, including 309-88 on the ground.
With its win, BW is 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the OAC and now owns a 27-11-1 all-time series advantage, including three straight victories. With its loss, ONU drops to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in the OAC.
In addition to Holt, the BW was led on offense by junior quarterbacks Michael Slack (Casselberry, Fla./Pine Castle Christian Academy) and Kyle Ohradzansky (Avon/Canton McKinley). Slack completed 6-of-10 passes for 140 yards with a TD and two interceptions and gained 24 yards in nine rushing attempts. Ohradzansky completed 3-of-7 passes for 29 yards and ran three times for three yards. In addition to Holt, senior wide receiver and speedster Kevin Johnson (Maple Heights/St. Ignatius) caught three passes for a team-high 103 yards, including an 80-yard TD grab. The defense was led by senior linebacker David Flegal (Akron/Revere) with a game-high 14 tackles and senior safety Zack Barley (Hudson) had 11.
Offensively for the Polar Bears junior QB Patrick Angle completed 28-of-47 passes for 317 yards. The top receiver was freshman Devon Price with a game-high 10 catches for 143 yards. The running game was led by sophomore RB Justin Magazine with 38 yards in 10 attempts with a TD. The defense was led by senior LB Josh Cantrell with 13 tackles.
The Polar Bears opened scoring at the 13:38 mark in the first quarter when Angle scored on a five-yard run and sophomore placekicker Andrew DiMario made the point-after-touchdown (PAT) kick to take a 7-0 lead. The score capped a 4-play and 25-yard drive in 1:15 and came after a BW interception on its first play and first possession.
BW tied the score at 7-7 at 5:07 in the first stanza when Holt took a handoff, made several moves and outran a couple of Polar Bears to the endzone on a 72-yard jaunt. Senior All-OAC PK Chris Mohler (Kent/Roosevelt) made his 11th straight PAT kick to cap a 2-play and 72-yard drive in 20 seconds.
The Yellow Jackets grabbed a 13-7 lead at the 13:14 mark of the second stanza when Holt sped 56 yards to paydirt, but the snap on the PAT kick was bad and an ensuing run for two points failed. The drive was 4-plays and 73 yards in 1:46.
The BW lead grew to 16-7 with 3:56 left before halftime when Mohler booted a 34-yard field goal. It was his fifth consecutive field goal boot this season. The tally capped a 4-play and 7-yard drive that followed a 22-yard Polar Bear punt.
BW gained a 19-7 lead four seconds prior to the intermission when Mohler booted a 36-yard field goal to cap a 9-play and 41-yard drive in 1:22. It was his sixth straight field goal this season.
The Yellow Jackets continued their unanswered assault on the Polar Bears when Holt scored on his third TD run of the game, a five-yarder with 3:20 left in the third period to give BW a 25-7 lead, but Mohler missed his first PAT kick of the season. The TD run capped a 12-play and 51-yard drive in 4:35.
The Polar Bears finally broke their scoring drought when DiMario booted a 22-yard field goal with 1:43 left in the third quarter to make the score 25-10. The boot capped n 8-play 59-yard drive in 2:31, and ended a 25-point scoring burst by BW.
BW built its lead to 31-10 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter when junior RB Nolan Sordyl (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) scored on a nine-yard run but the two-point conversion run failed. The scoring run capped a 4-play and 45-yard possession in 1:00 and followed a failed ONU onside kick attempt.
ONU closed the deficit to 31-17 when sophomore RB Justin Magazine bulled into the endzone from one yard out and DiMario made the PAT kick with 12:29 left. The run capped a 10-play and 89-yard drive in 2:48.
ONU had a chance to get closer and had a first down on the BW 10-yard line with just under eight minutes left to play, but the Yellow Jacket defense held tough and gave the ball back to the offense.
Three plays later Slack broke the backs of the Polar Bears when threw an 80-yard TD pass to Johnson with 4:17 left. Mohler added the PAT kick for a 38-17 lead.
Again ONU came right down the field and reached the BW 9-yard line, and again the BW defense stiffened and forced the Polar Bears to turn the ball over on downs.
Next Saturday, BW travels to Wilmington, Ohio to play Wilmington College at Williams Stadium at 6:00 p.m. Yellow Jacket fans can hear all of the action on campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, and via the web at www.bwyellowjackets.com or www.wbwc.com. The next home game is on Saturday, October 26 when BW hosts OAC rival Capital University on Professor Appreciation Day at 1:30 p.m.
FOR MORE SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 at kruple@bw.edu]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.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics
