The Wilmington College football team was limited to 66 yards of total offense in losing to John Carroll Saturday, 67-7, in Ohio Athletic Conference action on Townsend Field in Williams Stadium.
"We know John Carroll is an excellent program," said Wilmington head coach Stacey Hairston. "Those guys play hard, and they have some good quality players. I wanted to see our guys compete. In the first half, I was very happy with how we competed. The three touchdowns we gave up were on freshmen, and freshmen that made mistakes. John Carroll is who they are. You can't make mistakes and expect to get away with it for too long."
Senior linebacker C.J. Thompson (Cincinnati, OH/Northwest) was responsible for Wilmington's lone score, a 79-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter.
With the exception of a few miscues in the first half, the Wilmington defense held up against a potent Blue Streaks offense. The Fightin' Quakers trailed JCU just 23-0 at the break.
John Carroll doubled its lead with 23 points in the third quarter and added 21 points in the fourth quarter.
"The second half we showed some youth," said Hairston. "Once you play a good team like that and the snowball starts going downhill, it's very difficult to stop it."
In addition to his fumble recovery for a touchdown, Thompson finished with six tackles, including one for loss and two quarterback hurries. Freshman Mykell Moore (Springfield, OH/Springfield) and freshman Bryan Gonzalez (Miami, FL/Jackson) both recorded a team-high seven tackles.
Junior quarterback Luke Creditt (Wilmington, OH/Waynesville) finished 14-of-31 for 96 yards and one interception. He was sacked six times.
Sophomore Malik Pettiford (Washington Court House, OH/Senior) had a career-high six receptions for 22 yards, while junior P.J. Meyer (Cincinnati, OH/Elder) had three catches for 30 yards.
Wilmington (0-4 overall, 0-3 OAC) hosts Baldwin Wallace 2 p.m. Saturday.
