The Wilmington College football team takes to the road for the first time this season, traveling to Otterbein 2 p.m. Saturday.
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Wilmington (1-1) is coming off a 49-27 loss to Capital, while Otterbein (1-1) scored the final 10 points of the game in beating Marietta, 31-21.
"Otterbein got off to a slow start against a very good Buffalo State team, and has made a lot of improvement since them," said Wilmington head coach Stacey Hairston. "It looks like they have found it groove at probably the wrong time for us."
John Pyles led a rushing attack that ran the ball 50 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns. The senior gained 70 yards on 21 attempts in the win over Marietta.
On the season, the Cardinals have run the ball 74 times and threw the ball 44 times.
Senior quarterback Kevan Green, in his first season as a starter, is completing 56.8 percent (21-of-37) of his passes for 247 yards and one touchdown. His favorite receiver, Julian Lowe, has 10 catches for 175 yards and the lone receiving score.
"They are being smart with (Green) with a controlled passing game; lot of shorter routes, bubble screens and easier passes to throw. They are trying to establish the run. Last week, they ran the ball 50 times against Marietta, and I anticipate they will try to run the ball against us."
In the win over Marietta, the Cardinals held MC to just 186 yards through the air, but yielded 191 yards on the ground.
Senior linebacker Drew Ervin, who was the team's starting running back last season, finished with 11 tackles and the game-clinching pick six. He was named the OAC Defensive Player of the Week following his performance. Ervin is currently leading the team with 14.5 tackles, and safety Jordan Bonifas is second with 14 tackles. Otterbein will be playing without returning All-OAC linebacker Austin Jones, who suffered a season-ending injury in the week one loss to Buffalo State.
"Otterbein is getting their safeties a little closer to the box," said Hairston. "They want to make sure, like most good defenses want to do, they minimize what you do in the run game. I think for us they saw how we struggled with the offensive line and dealing with pressure. I expect them to bring pressure and force us to have success throwing the ball if we can protect the quarterback."
Wilmington rolled up 458 yards in the loss to Capital, but Hairston know that yards mean next to nothing without the completion of drives.
"Getting yards isn't our biggest issue; getting points is our biggest issue," said Hairston. "There are times when we are in position to get points, and didn't get any. That is crucial in a close game. We have to continue to learn to be more efficient when we get to the red zone. We have to be more efficient on third down. Most of our big mistakes, our penalties, come on third down. We have proved we can be a fast strike offense, but we are not a consistent offense."
Sophomore Brandon Mitchell (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) is currently third in the OAC, averaging 104 yards per game. Senior Justin Lee (Middletown, OH/Madison) is fifth in the league, averaging 79.0 yards per game.
Defensively, three players – David Henry (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington), Tarrell Starckey (Richmond, VA/Highland Springs), and Nick Williams (Cleveland, OH/Fairview) – are leading the team with 9.5 tackles each.
Wilmington's biggest problem, two games into the season, are penalties.
"Right now we have committed 18 penalties in two games, and that is completely unacceptable," said Hairston. "That is in our control. Not only do we have 18 penalties, 10 of them are personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct. That is young, inexperience or lack of discipline penalties, and we can't afford them."
