After heading into halftime tied 14-14, Otterbein (1-1, 1-0 OAC) outscored the Fightin’ Quakers (0-2, 0-1 OAC) 16-0 in the third quarter. The win rebounded the Cards from a 28-0 season-opening setback to 18th-ranked St. John Fisher Sept. 7.

“When you go into the OAC you’ve got to get your first game,” said head coach Tim Doup. “You have to win and be 1-0. After we got beat by St. John Fisher, I told our players our season starts in two weeks.”

The Cardinals capitalized on advantageous field position, as every Cardinal scoring drive began in Wilmington territory. After stuffing a Fightin’ Quaker fourth-and-one attempt at its own 29-yard line, the Cardinals got on the scoreboard first. Senior quarterback Ben Sizemore then connected with senior wide receiver Steven Carpenter on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 7:39 left in the first quarter for the team’s first points of the 2013 campaign.

“If you get a short field, you have to take advantage of it,” Doup said. “If you don’t score there, they think they have had a defensive victory.” Anytime it’s a short field you have to put the ball in the end zone.”

However, the Quakers responded in what would be a back-and-forth first half, using a hurry-up offense to their advantage. After recovering a fumble at the Otterbein 38-yard line, senior quarterback Brandon Arehart connected with senior wide receiver Kyle Akers on a six-yard slant route to tie the game early in the second quarter.

“I think we got lucky a little bit at times,” said Doup on Wilmington’s hurry-up attack. “They dropped some balls, we weren’t lined up sometimes, but with a hurry-up offense that fast, you have to be able to get set, not substitute and do what you’re supposed to do.”

Sizemore would answer with a connection to sophomore wide receiver Jeremy McCoy on a 19-yard touchdown pass after stopping another Quaker fourth-down attempt in Wilmington territory. The score marked McCoy’s first touchdown of his Otterbein career.

The Quakers responded yet again with 1:06 left in the half as freshman running back Zak Kruer scampered untouched into the end zone to tie the game, 14-14, heading into halftime.

Otterbein fumbled the kickoff at the beginning of the second half, giving Wilmington possession but the Otterbein defense held strong on yet another Quaker fourth-down attempt.

The Cardinals regained the momentum when freshman linebacker Will Brett intercepted a Quaker pass at the Wilmington 9-yard line. Junior Alana Gaither kicked a career-best 20-yard field goal to put the Cardinals up 17-14 to begin their second-half dominance.

Sophomore running back Drew Ervin cashed in a 19-yard run to put the Cardinals up 24-14 with 7:17 left in the third quarter. The drive started at the Wilmington 27-yard line after a Quaker facemask penalty on the punt return.“We still have a lot of work to do,” Doup said. “We need to be able to drive the ball, which we didn’t do very well today, but we did run the ball a little bit better.”

The Cards punched it in one more time as Sizemore hit Carpenter on a 16-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 30-14 in the third quarter.

Sizemore finished with 131 yards and three touchdowns, completing 13 of 25 passes. McCoy had nine catches for 95 yards as the top receiver.

Defensively, senior cornerback Alex Cameron led the way with eight total tackles and an interception.

For the Fightin’ Quakers, Arehart completed 24 passes on 43 attempts for 228 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions. His main target, sophomore Jeremy Duncan, grabbed 12 passes for 104 yards.

Otterbein will travel to University Heights Sept. 29 to face John Carroll University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.