By: Ryan Sosic '19
BEXLEY, Ohio – In just its second day game of the 2018 season, the Baldwin Wallace University football team defeated Capital University in an Ohio Athletic Conference game by a final score of 45-17 in Bernlohr Stadium.
BW (4-1, 3-1 OAC) improved to 38-12 in the all-time series and has now won two straight and six of the last seven meetings. Capital (0-4, 0-3 OAC) has now dropped 12 straight games.
Offensively for BW, senior quarterback Jake Hudson (East Lake, Florida), who is the reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week, completed 16 of 28 passes for 239 yards with one touchdown and added 99 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Freshman running back Jon Murray Jr. (Cincinnati/Withrow) led the ground attack as he rushed for a career-high 149 yards on 16 carries with a career-best four touchdowns. Senior All-OAC wide out Rob Wolfington (Rapids City, Mich./Elk Rapids) led the receiving corps with five catches for 96 yards. Defensively, the Yellow Jackets held the Crusaders to a season-low 17 points and 328 total yards of offense. Sophomore linebacker Brenton Miller (Carrollton) led BW with a game-high tying 10 tackles and 2.5 sacks, the firsts of his career. Junior defensive back Jordyn Johnson (Akron/North) tallied his third interception of the season and a career-high six pass-breakups.
Capital was led by All-OAC quarterback Thomas Wibbeler as he completed 31 of 58 passes for 338 yards with two touchdowns. Antwan Shipp was the leading rusher as he gained 24 yards on four carries. Senior wide receiver Dar Stanford led the receivers with nine catches for 106 yards with one touchdown. Defensively, Michael Lauofo registered a game-high tying 10 tackles.
The Crusaders scored the lone points of the first quarter following a BW fumbled punt return, as they were able to knock in a 32-yard field goal by Blake Middleton to take an early 3-0 lead at the 11:01 mark.
The Yellow Jackets offense came alive in the second quarter as the Yellow Jackets took a 24-3 lead in to the intermission. Murray Jr. was able to find the end zone three times, including his first career touchdown from one-yard out less than a minute into the stanza and a team-long 80-yard score. To end the quarter, BW orchestrated a 43 second, 62-yard drive to set up a career-long 40-yard field goal by junior kicker Jimmy Marshall (Lakewood).
The Yellow Jacket offense carried that momentum over to the third stanza as Hudson found senior wide receiver Jordan Leverette (Cleveland/John Adams) for a 35-yard score just 34 seconds into the quarter. The next drive, Capital was able to score its first touchdown of the game after a 2-yard pass from Wibbeler to Stanford.
BW extended its lead to 38-10 after Hudson scrambled and broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run on the first play in the last quarter. Capital tried to close the gap after a 6-yard touchdown pass to David Barnett from Wibbeler made the score 38-17. After the Yellow Jacket defense forced a turnover on downs, Murray Jr. punched the ball into the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the contest, making the score 45-17. Marshall added the point after.
BW is idle next week for its bye week. The Yellow Jackets return to the friendly confines of the Tressel Field inside the George Finnie Stadium on Saturday, October 13 when it hosts an OAC game against Muskingum University on Hall of Fame Weekend at 1:30 p.m.
