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PREVIEW: Otterbein Cardinals

PREVIEW: Otterbein Cardinals

For the first time this season, the Wilmington College football team will be playing in front of the home crowd as they host the Otterbein Cardinals 7 p.m. Saturday. The day marks Community Day and the program's 100th seasons of football celebration.

Game Notes l Coach Hairston Show l Live Stats/Video/Audio l Audio/Video

All youths attending the game will be admitted free with a paid adult. The school will honor all football players in the school's history at halftime.

The Cardinals are coming into Williams Stadium fresh off a 20-0 victory over Marietta. They scored in each of the last three quarters, and rolled up 360 yards of offense.

"Otterbein is a team that is very well-coached and fairly disciplined," said Wilmington head coach Stacey Hairston. "They are going to make you work for everything you get. It's a game that we have to go in focus and correct the mistakes we been beating ourselves on, so we have to get those things corrected."

For Wilmington, they must fix the propensity of turning the ball over and committing penalties at inopportune times. The Fightin' Quakers have turned the ball over seven times in two games, and has racked up 172 penalties yards.

Five of the seven miscues have come from the quarterback position. Sophomore Austin Jarbo and freshman Brandon Mitchell could both see some game action against the Cardinals. In the first game, Jarbo accounted for more than 350 yards of total offense, but it was Mitchell who played the well in game two.

Coach Hairston isn't giving any clues on who will be his signal caller, "We will play the player who gives us the best chance to win."

While the quarterback situation at WC is a little unsettled, senior quarterback Brick Davis will be at the controls of Otterbein's offense, an offense that will rely on the ability of the playmakers around Davis to carry the bulk of the responsibilities.

"I am anticipating a lot of short routes, which is a part of their game plan anyway," said Hairston. "Their natural offense is short, controlled passes; a lot of screens, tailback screens, wide receiver screens and bubble screens. "

In the win over Marietta, 10 different receivers caught a pass from Davis with Travis Laird being the main recipient – hauling in a team-high four. Laird leads the team with nine catches for 68 yards. However, the lone touchdown reception is a 3-yard score to back-up tight end Chad McCray, who is one of 13 Cardinals with a catch his year.

Otterbein is paced on the ground by sophomore running back Reid Hutchison, who has 202 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. Hutchison is averaging 9.6 yards per carry.

Defensively, sophomore Austin Jones and senior Ryan Moore are leading the way with 19 and 18 tackles, respectively.