Big plays energize a team. The No. 8/8 John Carroll University football team made a plethora of big plays on Saturday night in its annual Homecoming game.
Playing against crosstown rival Baldwin Wallace, John Carroll (3-0, 2-0 OAC) coasted to a 45-7 win to retain control of the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy and even the all-time Gold Bowl series at 13 wins each. The win marked the largest margin of victory by John Carroll over its archrival.
"The big plays were our thought process coming into this," said head coach Tom Arth. "We know it's a big game. Our guys were fired up and excited to have the opportunity to play against Baldwin Wallace. It's a great rivalry and a great tradition in Cleveland. We're honored to be a part of it. We were excited to get out here and play."
On just the second offensive play of the game, senior quarterback Mark Myers hooked up with a wide-open Marshall Howell on a 60-yard touchdown strike for the game's first score.
"We wanted to take a couple of shots early and fortunately it worked out," said Arth. "We missed it on the first play of the game throwing to the right guy. We called the same play and hit it. It was a great way to start the game."
The long touchdown would be a sign of things to come on the evening. Baldwin Wallace's (1-2, 0-2 OAC) defenders had trouble matching up with John Carroll's wide receivers last year. Naturally, the Blue Streaks looked to work the ball downfield on Saturday night.
Game plan accomplished.
Said Arth, "The mindset we wanted to put into the team's mind was to let Baldwin Wallace know that we were coming out aggressive and swinging. We want to play that way all game. It was the way the game worked out."
Myers' the reigning OAC Offensive Player of the Week looked poised completing 22 of 34 throws for 374 yards and five scores.
The 6-5 lefty and Howell connected on the next drive from 23 yards out to make it a 2-score JCU advantage before all of the 5,100 filed into their seats on the 11th-anniversary of Don Shula Stadium. It marked the first crowd of over 5,000 since the 2007 BW game.
Myers would go on to add an 11-yard, an 8-yard and a 21-yard touchdown strike to Brian Kornowski, Zach Strippy and Brendan Carozzoni before he was lifted for senior Wes Keller near the end of the third quarter.
John Carroll had two turnovers in the first half but the defense and special teams had its offense's back.
The first, enabled the Yellow Jackets to push into Blue Streak territory for the first time of the evening. Choe Samba came up with the big play sacking BW starting quarterback Tyler Moeglin on a third-and-8 play.
The second, set up Baldwin Wallace on John Carroll's 30-yard line.
The Yellow Jackets went backwards after Nick Lasko and Chris Rizzo recorded an 11-yard sack setting up a difficult to convert third-and-21. Andy Bryan made sure BW would not convert with the quarterback hurry.
"I'm proud of the way the defense played," said Arth. "They play so hard and so fast every week. It's aggressive and sound. I'm proud of the work that they put in understanding our plan and being able to go out and execute it against a really talented team. They had a really talented quarterback who made some plays. He got loose a few times but overall we did a pretty good job."
From there it was the special team's turn to step up.
For the second straight week freshman Mason McKenrick came up with a blocked punt. The Mentor, Ohio product stuffed BW punter Austin Smith setting up John Carroll at the BW 40-yard line.
"Blocked kicks are something that we believe in our program," said Arth. "We know it's an important aspect of who we are. It's good to see our guys blocking kicks."
The Yellow Jackets were able to drive against the defense in the second half. John Carroll's defenders responded forcing two interceptions. Jimmy King and David Porter came up with interceptions on back-to-back BW drives. The second was set up by a Frank Pines deflection at the line of scrimmage.
Said Arth, "Jimmy and David made some big plays. It's an attitude that they have on that side of the ball. I'm so proud of it and how the play."
Kresimir Ivkovic added a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter. John Carroll's final offensive score came on a 2-yard rush by Arin Pruitt in the fourth quarter.
JCU needed on final big play late in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout. Joe Nawalaniec came through stuffing BW backup quarterback Robbie Plagens on third-and-1 from the 1-yard line. Going for it on fourth down Plagens jumped over his line to give the Yellow Jackets their only score of the night.
Defensively, King, Lakso, Pines and Porter all finished with five tackles. Samba would finish the night with a game-high two sacks. Offensively Howell would finish with five catches for 112 yards and two scores, his second 100-yard game against the Yellow Jackets.
John Carroll heads out on the road for the first time this season with a 1:30 p.m. contest at Ohio Northern on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Quick, Long Touchdown Sets Tone For No. 8 Football In Big Win Over Baldwin Wallace
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20140927_y276.xml
2014
Baldwin Wallace
7
John Carroll
45
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin Wallace (1-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 6 John Carroll (3-0) | 14 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
Sep 27, 2014