BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University football team cruised past Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference game by a final score of 72-9 on the Tressel Field inside The George Finnie Stadium.
Prior to the game, 10 new members of the Alumni Athletics Association Hall of Fame were honored and during a halftime presentation the University celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 1994 OAC Championship.
BW (6-1, 5-1 OAC) improved to 18-3 in the all-time series against Wilmington (1-6, 1-5 OAC), including winning the last 11 meetings.
Offensively for the Yellow Jackets, freshman quarterback Keagan Armitage (Ashland) completed 15-of-20 passes for 250 yards with one touchdown. Sophomore All-OAC running back Jon Murray, Jr. (Cincinnati/Withrow) led the ground game as he rushed for a season-high 120 yards on 21 carries with a season-high three touchdowns. Senior wide out Deion Greer (Toledo/Central Catholic) led the aerial assault as he caught eight passes for a career-high 101 yards. Defensively, senior Academic All-OAC linebacker Josh Liberati (Lisbon/David Anderson) had a team-high five tackles and also had one fumble recovery.
The Quakers were led by junior quarterback Kyle Barrett as he completed 8-of-21 passes for 87 yards. Sophomore running back Malik Sims led the ground game with 70 yards on eight carries with one touchdown. Sophomore wide out Itika Wynn, Jr. led the receiving corps as he caught three passes for 57 yards. Defensively, junior All-OAC defensive back Tre'Quez Parks made a game-high 12 tackles.
BW scored the only points of the first quarter when junior kicker Tyler Butcher nailed a 24-yard field goal at the 8:27 mark.
It was all BW in the second quarter as the Yellow Jackets scored 17 points to take a 17-3 lead. Freshman placekicker Dean Sarris (Canton/GlenOak), who is the OAC Special Teams Player of the Week, tied the game on a 20-yard field goal at 10:15. Murray, Jr. gave BW the lead when he scored on a five-yard run. Sarris tacked on the extra point to make the score 10-7 at the 3:56 mark. The Yellow Jackets closed out the first half scoring when freshman running back Shaun Perry (Clearwater, Fla.) found the end zone on a nine-yard run. Sarris booted the point after for the 17-3 lead with 44 seconds remaining.
The BW offense kept things rolling in the second half as it scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 38-3 lead. Murray, Jr. scored his second touchdown of the game on a five-yard run at the 12:34 mark. Senior wide receiver Edwin Velasquez (Jupiter, Fla./Jensen Beach) caught a career-long 58-yard pass from Armitage at 10:01. Perry scored his second touchdown of the game on a six-yard run at the 3:19 mark. Sarris hit all three extra points.
The Yellow Jackets added two more touchdowns in the fourth and final quarter to take a 52-3 lead. Perry found the end zone for the third time on a five-yard run at the 14:13 mark. Sophomore quarterback Jack Gibbons (Willoughby/Lake Catholic) broke an 83-yard run for the score at 10:37. Sarris hit both extra points. The Quakers ended a Yellow Jacket 52-0 run when freshman running back Malik Sims scored on a two-yard run at the 8:33 mark but the extra point was no good. BW added to its lead at 59-9 when freshman running back Owen Reef (Ashland) scored his first collegiate touchdown on a two-yard run. Senior Academic All-OAC place kicker Jimmy Marshall (Lakewood) added the point after. The Yellow Jackets closed out the scoring with back-to-back touchdowns by defensive lineman Harvey Rauch (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) with a blocked punt and recovery in the end zone and a 30-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown with the last coming with 17 seconds.
BW is back in action on Saturday, November 2 when it hosts an OAC game against Marietta College at 1:30 p.m. The final home game of the regular season is on Saturday, November 16 when the team hosts an OAC game and 31st Battle for the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy against crosstown rival John Carroll University at 1:30 p.m.
