WILMINGTON, Ohio - In a game that featured less than 500 combined yards between both teams, Baldwin Wallace University escaped Williams Stadium with a 13-12 victory over the Wilmington College football team in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon.
"Going into this game, we knew it was going to be a four-quarter game," Acting Head Coach Corey Fillipovich said. "We went four quarters with them for the first time in a while. For our program to see that happen and be right there at the last second displays how far we've come and how bright the future can be."
Neither offense got anything going in the first two drives. The only first down for either side, in fact, came on a Yellow Jacket pass interference penalty as quarterback Adam Dixon was looking for Itika Wynn Jr. The Fightin' Quakers turned it over three plays later near midfield. A pass breakup from cornerback Jalaun Covington on fourth down stalled the next BW drive, and after two three-and-outs followed, punter Derrick Larimer pinned the Yellow Jackets inside their own 10-yard line.
After a run for minimal gain, Jon Murray Jr., BW's fifth-year senior running back, fumbled as Zac Schmidt got his hands on the football, and Trafford Dunn recovered. Two rushes got the Quakers to the four yard line, but a sack on third down forced a field goal, which Seth Best converted to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.
Wilmington's defense forced another three-and-out as the second quarter began, and the Quaker offense put together their best offensive drive of the game. The drive spanned 72 yards on a dozen plays and included a fourth-and-13 conversion from Dixon to Gavin Foushee that setup a Ben Hobbs score two plays later.
Leading 10-0, the Wilmington defense once again forced a three-and-out, but Dixon was intercepted on the first play of the ensuing drive, and it was returned for a touchdown. After the next several drives failed to go anywhere, Wilmington got the ball at its own two-yard line with 4:56 to play in the first half. Dixon found Ace Taylor to move the chains on one third down and hit Lathan Jones for a 52-yard strike on third-and-18 a few plays later. Wilmington pounded forward with Hobbs for six yards to setup second-and-goal from the three-yard line, but what followed was a momentum-changing sequence. The BW defense held on three straight plays to stop WC from pay dirt. After the turnover on downs, Murray Jr. looked to be stopped for a safety, but the line judge ruled tie ball down at the one. On the next play, the final of the half, Murray Jr. broke loose for 45 yards and pay have scored a touchdown if it wasn't for the shoe-string tackle of Covington near midfield.
"They were bringing a lot of pressure, and Adam [Dixon] hung in there," Fillipovich said. "We felt as a staff the correct call was to go for it there at the end of the half. If you're going to beat a team like Baldwin Wallace, you have to take some risks. That one just didn't pan out for us."
Baldwin Wallace, which had just over 100 yards of offense in the first half (with nearly half coming on the aforementioned run), flipped the script in the second half. The Yellow Jackets turned up the defense pressure and allowed less than 100 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes. The visitors also changed quarterbacks, from starter Joey Marousek to Reese Wamer, and that seemed to give BW better offensive rhythm. The Yellow Jackets put together their best drive of the game on the final full drive of the third quarter, going 84 yards in 10 plays and scoring on a keeper from Wamer. The point-after attempt, however, hit the uprights and BW led 13-10.
A quick three-and-out followed for the Quaker offense, and BW drove into scoring position again, but a Dean Sarris field goal attempt was wide left, and the score remained 13-10. A sack stalled Wilmington's next drive, but the home defense forced an incompletion as Jacob Quinn and Jarod Lee hurried the quarterback. On the punt, the snap went over Dylan Kooyman's head for a safety, pulling the hosts within a point.
Wilmington's drive started at its own 35-yard line, and the Quakers drove into Yellow Jacket territory. After offsetting penalties on fourth-and-two, Dixon's pass to Taylor was batted down. Baldwin Wallace would run the clock out on the next drive.
Neither team hit over 250 yards as BW gained 230 and Wilmington 215. Both teams also converted just three third-down attempts. The 230 yards surrendered by the Wilmington defense is the least in a game since a 49-7 win at Earlham in 2018 and the least in an OAC contest in at least a decade.
"There's a lot of guys that have played a lot of football for us on the defensive side of the ball," said Fillopovich. "You can start to see the experience that unit has. They played great today, and I'm so proud of them."
Dixon finished 15-of-39 for 187 yards and two interceptions while Hobbs ran 18 times for 50 yards and a touchdown. Six of Dixon's passes were caught by Taylor for 67 yards while Jones had the one long catch for 52 yards. Murray Jr. had 21 rushes for 87 yards while Wamer had a dozen rushes for 80 yards and a score. The two Yellow Jacket quarterbacks combined for 5-of-17 for 57 yards passing.
Defensively, Jarod Lee had 10 tackles for Wilmington while Schmidt had nine and Jack Sheriff eight. Covington and fellow cornerback Quentin Davis both had two pass breakups. For BW, Mason Levasseur led the way with nine tackles while Vontae Jackson had eight including 2.5 sacks. Anthony Kendall had three pass breakups.
Wilmington (1-1, 0-1 OAC) hosts Otterbein University on Homecoming Weekend next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
