BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College football team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Ohio Northern University, 13-7, today (Saturday, October 28, 2006) at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea in a game that featured two delays for lightning.
With its victory, B-W is now 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the OAC and travels to Westerville next Saturday to play Otterbein College at 1:30 p.m.. With its loss, ONU is now 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the OAC and has lost four straight games.
ONU led 7-3 after one quarter and at halftime. B-W led 10-7 after three stanzas.
Following a blocked punt, the Polar Bears opened the scoring at the 6:37 mark when junior quarterback Jeff Pankratz scored a touchdown one a one-yard sneak. Freshman placekicker Jake Heaphy's point-after-touchdown kick was good and ONU led, 7-0. The Yellow Jackets closed the gap to 7-3 at the 2:23 mark of the first stanza when junior Adam Wilburn (Bucyrus/Wynford) booted a 35-yard field goal following an eight-play 47-yard drive.
The Yellow Jackets gained their first lead of the game at 10-7 at the 8:23 mark of the third stanza when freshman quarterback Anthony Gardner (Rocky River/St. Edward) tossed a 13-yard TD pass to sophomore wide receiver Matt Lepley (Bellevue)and Wilburn tacked on his second PAT. B-W's final score came when Wilburn connected on a 25-yard field with 2:30 left in the game. ONU had one last chance for victory, but B-W senior cornerback Jim Wochele (Cuyahoga Heights/Richmond Heights) picked off Pankratz with 1:11 left to seal the win for the Yellow Jackets.
Offensively for B-W, senior running back Brandon Hedges (Oregon/Clay) led the way on the ground with 82 yards on 28 carries and Gardner had 22 on 12 attempts. Gardner completed seven-of-15 passes for 100 yards, including the TD toss to Lepley. Lepley, one of three B-W receivers to each catch two passes, grabbed his pair for 29 yards. On defense, sophomore middle linebacker Paul Burger (Mentor) led the Yellow Jackets with 12 tackles. ONU had just 79 yards of total offense in 45 plays and Pankratz completed nine-of-18 passes for 62 yards. Junior LB Lenny Trusnik led all tacklers in the game with 17.
The Yellow Jackets next play on Saturday, November 4 when they travel to Westerville, Ohio to play OAC-rival Otterbein College at Memorial Stadium at 1:30 p.m. That game will be televised on a tape delay basis by SportsTime Ohio throughout much of the state of Ohio. The broadcast will take place at 9:00 p.m. The telecast will be replayed on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 6:00 p.m.
Next Saturday's B-W versus Otterbein game also will be broadcast live on campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, and via the WBWC Internet Web site at either www.wbwc.com or www.bw.edu/athletics.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, by FAX machine at 440-826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. To contact Head Coach John Snell, please call him in the office at 440-826-2069 or you can reach him via e-mail at jsnell@bw.edu.
