WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Otterbein football team capped off its season on a positive note Saturday afternoon inside Williams Stadium, using a strong second half to defeat host Wilmington, 34-24, in the season finale for both teams.
The Cardinals, finishing 2-8 overall and 1-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), used a career-day from running back
Dakota Smith in what was his final college game. The fifth-year senior rushed 39 times for 203 yards and four touchdowns as Otterbein pulled away in the second half.
Wilmington (1-9, 0-9 OAC) scored an early touchdown in the game's first minute, but the Cards answered with an 83-yard drive to get on the board as well. The ensuing PAT snap was bobbled, leaving the score 7-6.
The Quakers grabbed the momentum with a pair of long scoring plays, first an 87-yard run from DJ Chambers followed by a wild punt return from Luke Richardson in which he reversed field and ended up going 65 yards to the house.
The Cards worked their way back from that point, getting a short rushing TD from
Bryce Hall to make it a one-score game and then keeping it 21-13 at the half following a crucial interception from
Demetrius Shannon in the end zone. The freshman finishes his season with a team-best four picks.
Wilmington pushed the margin to 24-13 with an early field goal in the second half, but it would be Smith's show going forward as he punctuated the comeback with scoring runs of 1, 9 and 32 yards to culminate the afternoon. All three of the scoring drives were over 70 yards, as his nine-yard score with 44 seconds left in the third quarter put Otterbein ahead for good.
Otterbein had 23 first downs on the day and held a 37:01 time of possession, eventually outgaining the Quakers 392-292. Hall completed 14 of 26 passes while sophomore classmate
Dom Ross had another nice day, posting six grabs for a game-high 84 yards.
Linebacker
Ryan Tuchow paced the defense once again with 12 tackles, finishing his strong junior season at 94 overall to rank fourth in the OAC. Fellow inside backer
Jake Harper contributed seven stops in his final career outing.
The Cardinals held Wilmington to just the three points after intermission and a 3 of 15 conversion rate on third downs. Quarterback Kyle Barrett went 18 of 35 while Chambers totaled 18 rushes for 140 on the ground.
