WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College football team kicks off its 2018 season on the road as the Fightin' Quakers take on Earlham College in the Quaker Bowl Rivalry at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Teams: Wilmington (WC) and Earlham (EC). WC finished last season with a 2-8 overall record including snapping a 40-game Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) losing streak with a 37-30 overtime victory against Capital University on Sept. 23, 2017. EC is amidst a 43-game losing streak having gone 0-10 the last four seasons.
The Coaches: Bryan Moore, a 1999 graduate of Hiram College, begins his second season leading Wilmington's football program. Moore began instilling his vision on WC last year which led to victories over Earlham and Capital. Previously, he spent time at both Bluffton University and Heidelberg University. Nick Johnson enters his fourth year as Earlham's head football coach. The HCAC Coach of the Year in 2015, Johnson played football for the Quakers from 1997-01 and later served the program as defensive coordinator from 2007-12. He also held the position of head track and field coach for 12 seasons.
The Offense: Wilmington needs to replace its starting quarterback, top two rushers and top three receiving threats from a season ago. Senior Gino Hinton averaged 40.8 yards rushing per game in 2017 along with scoring three touchdowns. Junior Matt Creditt hauled in 15 receptions for 200 yards and two touchdowns to represent WC's top returning receiver. Earlham lost its do-it-all quarterback Wesley Hundley to graduation. He accounted for over 85 percent of the team's offense last season. Senior Elijah Bilal, EC's top offensive returner, caught 29 passes for 226 yards and four scores in 2017.
The Defense: The Wilmington duo of Tre'Quez Parks and Steve Broussard, who are both now juniors, combined for 99 tackles in 2017. Parks also hauled in the only interception of the season last year. Junior Kobe Walker, EC's top tackler from 2017, averaged 8.4 tackles per game during the season last year.
Series History: Wilmington is 15-25-2 all-time against Earlham, but is 11-8-2 in the series since the Quaker Bowl was introduced. WC won last year's meeting 49-20 on the back of rushing for 381 yards in the game. More information on the series history can be viewed by visiting the link above.
Quaker Bowl Rivalry: The athletics departments of Wilmington and Earlham have re-created the Quaker Bowl rivalry. Originally a traveling trophy for just football and men's basketball, the bowl will now be competed for across all sports the two schools compete in. The football contest between Wilmington and Earlham is the first event in the 2018-19 Quaker Bowl standings. Wilmington won the bowl last year, defeating Earlham 10-2 in head-to-head contests.
Coverage: Live statistics and live video of the game will be available – visit the links above.
Social Media: Follow Wilmington athletics on social media! The Fightin' Quakers have a presence on Facebook (Wilmington College Athletics) as well as Twitter and Instagram (@DubCQuakers).
Up Next: Wilmington has a bye week before traveling to Ohio Northern University to open OAC play at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 15.
