WOOSTER, OHIO -- Baldwin-Wallace College football team defeated host The College of Wooster, 23-0, tonight (Thursday, September 1) in the 2011 season-opener for each team at John Papp Stadium. This game will be televised by SportsTime Ohio , Friday, Sept. 2 morning at 6:00 a.m. and again on Monday/ Labor Day, Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m.
The Yellow Jackets (1-0) led 7-0 after one quarter, 14-0 at halftime and 23-0 after three stanzas.
An efficient Yellow Jacket offense and an opportunistic defense led the Yellow Jackets to their first victory of the 2011 season. The B-W offense scored two touchdowns and the defense forced six Scots turnovers, including senior linebacker John Harasyn (Mentor) who returned a fumble 68 yards for a score.
The Yellow Jacket offense was led by junior quarterback Ryan O'Rourke (Avon) who completed 10-of- 18 passes for 119 yards and one TD. On the ground, freshman running back Willie Jackson (Citrus Springs, Fla./ Crystal River) carried the ball 14 times for 127 yards with a TD and junior RB Tyler Lohr (Kent/ Roosevelt) had 55 yards in 11 trips.
Defensively, B-W was led by senior captain
Ryan Dugan (Mentor) who led the team with 12 tackles and had his 11th career interception . In addition, senior safety
Corey Hildreth (Massillon/ Washington),
senior defensive end
Matt Lewis (Bay Village/ Bay) and senior defensive tackle
Max Wagner (Mentor) each forced a fumble, and senior linebacker
Brett Thompson (Shelby) had the other interception.
The Fighting Scots were paced on offense by sophomore quarterback Richard Barnes who completed 21-of-37 passes for 180 yards and two interceptions. He also ran 22 times for 39 yards but fumbled three times.
Sophomore RB John Battaglia led the Scot running game with 57 yards in five carries, and senior RB Robert Flagg had 35 yards in 14 attempts before leaving with an injury. The receivers were led by freshman WR Justin Rice with six catches for 46 yards. Wooster's defense was led by sophomore Brendon Taylor with eight stops.
Following a Wooster fumble inside the B-W red zone that was forced by Hildreth, the Yellow Jackets opened the scoring at 2:19 mark of the first quarter when O'Rourke connected with sophomore speedster Kevin Johnson (Maple Heights/ St. Ignatius) on a 73-yard TD pass. Senior placekicker Dave Cantu (Amherst/ Steele) tacked on the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead. The drive totaled 99 yards in nine plays as it wasted 4:48 off the clock as B-W took over off a Wooster fumble on the one-yard line.
In the second quarter, Lewis forced Wooster's third fumble of the game which was returned 68-yards for a TD by senior LB John Harasyn (Mentor) to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 14-0 with 9:26 left in the first half. Cantu tacked on the PAT kick.
Wooster had its best chance to close the gap right before halftime. With a first-and-goal at the B-W one-yard line, the Yellow Jackets stopped the Scots on four consecutive plays to take a 14-0 lead into the lockerroom.
B-W opened the scoring in the second half at the 3:07 mark of the third quarter when senior defensive tackle Max Wagner (Mentor) and senior DE Derron Hamilton (Euclid) combined for a safety of Barnes to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 16-0.
Following the safety, B-W went straight down the field on the heels of Jackson as he scored on a 25-yard run to paydirt. Cantu then added the PAT kick to close the scoring with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
The Yellow Jackets are idle next weekend and are back in action on Saturday, September 17 when they host Heidelberg University on Tressel Field in The George Finnie Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on Community Night. That game will be one of three home games televised by SportsTime Ohio.
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 at http://twitter.com/bwathletics