Andrew Woodley -- Otterbein Sports Information
BEREA, Ohio – Senior quarterback Aaron Kingcade (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) accounted for five touchdowns and the Cardinals upset No. 15 Baldwin Wallace University 38-17 Saturday afternoon at Tressel Field.
Otterbein University remains unbeaten at 4-0, 3-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), and starts the season with four straight wins for only the fifth time since 1950. With the loss, the Yellow Jackets fall to 2-1 in the OAC, 3-1 overall. BW entered the week ranked 15th by D3football.com and ninth by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
The Otterbein running game, which entered the game averaging just 105 yards per game, pounded out 194 yards on the ground. Senior Brock Burzanko (Burton, Ohio/Berkshire) led the Cardinal rushing attack with a career-high 74 yards on 19 carries while Kingcade added 41 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 13 carries.
Kingcade also led the Otterbein offense through the air with 268 passing yards and two touchdowns on 15 of 20 attempts. For his efforts, Kingcade was named the Shriners Day Most Valuable Player of the Game.
Defensively, the Cardinals limited the Yellow Jackets to 308 yards of total offense and just 25 yards rushing (1.1 yards per attempt). The Otterbein defense collected three sacks and totaled five tackles for loss in the win.
Entering the fourth quarter Otterbein held a 24-17 lead with the ball at the BW 37 yard line. Five plays later Kingcade connected with senior Trey Fairchild (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) for a 6-yard touchdown to give the Cards a 31-17 lead with 14:05 left in the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Otterbein sophomore place kicker Nick Ganus (Chillicothe, Ohio/Zane Trace) recovered his own onside kick to give the Cards the ball right back. Otterbein capped off a 10-play drive with a 1-yard run by Kingcade to put the Tan and Cardinal up 38-17 with 6:06 left in the game.
Otterbein scored 24 first-half points and surpassed 300 yards of total offense in the first half. The Cardinals scored on all three of their red zone opportunities and did not end a drive without points. Kingcade's 82-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Joey Robertson (Middletown, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick) was the longest play from scrimmage this year for the Cardinals.
Otterbein held a significant advantage in time of possession, thanks largely to their running game. The Cardinals held possession for over 38 minutes of the contest and converted 10 of 13 third-down attempts. In the second half alone, Otterbein held the ball for over 23 minutes.
Senior linebacker Chad Pepper (Westerville, Ohio/Olentangy) led the Cardinals defensively with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks. Junior defensive end and reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week Pat Seesholtz (Bremen, Ohio/Fairfield Union) finished the afternoon with two sacks and a forced fumble.
Kingcade spread the ball around to six different receivers. Fairchild led the Cards with six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown, while junior Steven Carpenter (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) finished with five catches for 72 yards.
Otterbein will put their undefeated record on the line next week when they host Muskingum University for a 7 p.m. matchup. The Cardinals will induct eight individuals and one team into the Otterbein University Athletic Hall of Fame prior to kickoff.