Different formations, same personnel. That is exactly what the Wilmington College football team is expecting Saturday when they line up to face Baldwin-Wallace Saturday.
"They do a lot of things well," said interim head coach Jay Niswonger. "They have a solid running back (Tyler Lohr) and a quarterback (Ryan O'Rourke) that I like and a receiver (Josiah Holt) that is a really good player. They are solid all the way around."
O'Rourke is 19-6 as a starter for the Yellow Jackets, including 4-1 this season. He enters this week's game ranked third in the OAC averaging 209.8 yards through the air. His nine touchdowns are fourth in the conference. Holt is one of two receivers averaging over 100 yards per game with 100.4.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets are allowing 21.0 points per game. Junior middle linebacker Michael Stacchiotti leads Baldwin-Wallace, and his ranked seventh in the OAC, with 43 tackles. Senior defensive end Joe Fitch has wrecked havoc on opposing teams' passing attacks as he is second in the OAC with six sacks.
"They are multiple upfront," said Niswonger, "but its more of a 4-3 look with man coverage. If we had more experience, we would be able to do a lot more things with our skill guys."
Niswonger went onto say that the Yellow Jackets will be the team that blitzes the most of any team the Fightin' Quakers have played all season long.
With Wilmington going through a bit of a rebuilding phase, Niswonger acknowledges he is seeing some progress made on both sides of the ball.
"Last week, defensively were doing things really well. We just got out-personneled," said the interim leader. "Offensively, we just don't have consistency. We are going into week six and still are trying to find our way."
Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday at George Finnie Stadium in Berea, OH.