UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Otterbein football team faced off against the No. 20-ranked John Carroll University Blue Streaks at Don Shula Stadium Saturday afternoon, falling 45-0.
The Cardinals now fall to 1-2 overall, 0-2 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play and John Carroll improves to 2-0 this year, 1-0 OAC and will look to move up in the national ranking before facing against No. 1 Mount Union next Saturday.
Otterbein battled with the Blue Streaks in the first quarter, slowing down the high-powered offense and only allowing seven points. The Cardinals defense was put in a tough spot midway through the quarter as the Blue Streaks opened a drive on the Otterbein 27, finding the end zone in four plays.
Otterbein had its best opportunity of the contest two possessions later, driving down the field before Steve Irwin threw an interception in the red zone. The Cardinal defense would continue to step up, this time with
Demetrius Shannon jumping in front of a Blue Streak receiver to intercept Anthony Moeglin. It was the first pick of freshman's young career.
The second quarter would be unfavorable to the Tan and Cardinal as JCU would score 21 unanswered points. Ariel Jimenez sacked
Steven Irwin, forcing a fumble that would be picked up by Ray Brown and returned 26 yards to the house. That sequence resulted in a 21-0 lead for JCU, and the hit would keep Irwin on the sideline for the remainder of the game.
Bryce Hall stepped in at quarterback for Otterbein but the margin would be too great for the Cardinals.
George Redding was a bright spot on the Cardinals offense, catching seven passes for 96 yards and rushing the ball five times for 23 yards.
Reed Tucker added four grabs totaling 66 yards.
Niall Lewison led the way for the Cards with eight tackles, while
Colton Miles and
Jacob Tiell were right behind with seven each. Miles was in the backfield frequently as four of his stops were for a loss. Junior
Luke Green-Lauber set a Cardinal single-game record with 490 punting yards, coming on 12 attempts for a healthy 40.8 average.
Otterbein will next return to Westerville for its Homecoming game against Ohio Northern next Saturday at 2 p.m.
