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BEREA, Ohio—The Otterbein University football team sprung to life in the second half, overcoming a 9-0 halftime deficit to defeat Baldwin Wallace University, 20-9, Saturday afternoon in Berea.
 
With the win, Otterbein improved to 5-2 overall and solidified its hold on third place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) at 5-1. The Yellow Jackets dropped to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in league play. The win marked Otterbein's third straight over the Yellow Jackets. Otterbein is 5-2 against Baldwin Wallace over the last seven meetings.
 
The Cardinals overcame a slow start—generating just 96 yards while yielding 178 in the first half—with a strong finish. Otterbein scored points on its first four possessions of the second half to pull out the victory.
 
The first half belonged to Baldwin Wallace. The Yellow Jackets scored on their second possession of the game, a six-yard touchdown run from quarterback Tyler Moeglin. BW's Kyle Dunne returned a punt to the Otterbein 7-yard line to set up the scoring drive. The Jackets added a Joe Simonis 25-yard field goal and led 9-0 with 2:40 to play in the first half.
 
 
Things could have been worse for the Cardinals over the first two quarters. The Otterbein defense forced two Baldwin Wallace fumbles deep in Cardinal territory, recovering one on the Otterbein 14-yard line and the other in the Otterbein end zone.
 
The Cardinals finally got the ball rolling in the third quarter, mounting a 12-play, 52-yard drive that ended in an Alana Gaither 23-yard field goal. Gaither, who has yet to miss a field goal this season—seven for seven—added another, a 28-yarder five minutes later to cut the Baldwin Wallace lead to three, trailing 9-6 with 3:10 to play in the third quarter.
 
Over the next two possessions, Otterbein began to take over the game, putting together two touchdown drives of 78 and 60 yards.
 
The Cardinals took the lead for good, 13-9, after running back John Pyles scored on an 8-yard run with 12:15 remaining in the game. The 10-play, 78-yard drive consumed 4:21. Cole Benner closed out the scoring for Otterbein with a 12-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Brick Davis to make it 20-9 with 7:31 remaining.
 
The Cardinals finished with 334 yards of total offense while giving up 294 yards. The Otterbein defense held Baldwin Wallace to just 116 yards of offense in the second half, with 56 yards of that coming in the final 38 seconds on the last drive of the game.
 
Davis led the Cardinal offense, completing 21 of 37 pass attempts for 243 yards and one TD with no interceptions or sacks. He rushed for eight yards on four carries.
 
Receivers Ryan Thombs and Logan Stepp had five receptions each.
 
Baldwin Wallace held Otterbein to a season-low 91 yards on the ground. Reid Hutchison netted 66 yards on 14 carries. Pyles rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
 
Inside linebacker Preston Pearson tallied 12 tackles, including a half sack for a loss of one yard, to lead the Cardinal defense.
 
Otterbein punter Jordan Keaton averaged a season high 39.6 yards on eight punts in the game. He placed four of his punts inside the Baldwin Wallace 20-yard line.
 
Otterbein, after playing two straight on the road, is scheduled to play third-ranked University of Mount Union next Saturday in Westerville. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The Cardinals head into the game riding a three-game winning streak.