box score

John Carroll broke open a close game at the half with two third quarter touchdowns to prevail, 21-6, in an Ohio Athletic Conference game held Saturday night at Frost Kalnow in Tiffin, Ohio.

The win moves John Carroll's record to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the OAC.

The Blue Streaks were in a dog fight from the start. After both teams had decent first possessions, John Carroll would post the game's first score. On a second down play from the Heidelberg 45-yard line, Mark Petruziello found Chuck Sroka for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Josiah Kedzior added the point after for a 7-0 JCU lead.

Heidelberg attempted to answer back with a drive that reached the 24-yard line of the Blue Streaks, but not only did the possession stall -- the Student Princes did not come away with points. JCU junior Dane Schaffer blocked and recovered a 41-yard field goal attempt.

The Student Princes, however, returned the favor int he second quarter, as a Kedzior field goal attempt from 42 yards away was blocked by Matt Grieves.

Play turned sloppy in the second quarter as JCU lost two fumbles and Heidelberg lost one.  The second Blue Streak fumble occured deep in Heidelberg territory as the Streaks looked to increase their lead.

Heidelberg responded with a nine-play 80-yard drive that was fuelded by a 49-yard reception by Antwon Roddy. The drive stalled, however, at the JCU 4, and Jesse Hawkins put the first points on the board against John Carroll all season with a 25-yard field goal.

Yet another scoring attempt by JCU to end the half was foiled as a 34-yard field goal by Kedzior struck the crossbar. The score stood 7-3 at the half in favor of John Carroll.

JCU would respond to a sub-par first half by scoring on two of its first three possessions of the second half. Rai Stover scored on a 17-yard pass play from Petruziello to make the score 14-3, and then Petruziello scored on an 11-yard run to put the score at 21-3 with 6:51 left in the thrd quarter.

The John Carroll defense made the victory stand by allowing just one field goal the rest of the way. Although their streak of scoreless quarters ended at nine dating back to last season, the JCU defense has now gone three games without allowing a touchdown.

Ken Bevington led the way on defense with a career-high 16 tackles, including five for loses of 22 yards. Mike Nettling had a forced fumble and Nadhal Eadeh recovered a fumble as JCU limited Heidelberg to 88 yards net rushing.

On offense, John Carroll gained 391 yards thanks in large part to Petruziello, who was 19-30 for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Sroka (a career-best 95 yards) and Michael DiCillo (32 yards) each had five receptions.