Despite a record-setting effort by Frank Ross (Canfield, OH, Canfield) , John Carroll came up seven yards short in its bid to pick off nationally ranked Capital in what became a heartwrenching 28-20 setback Saturday afternoon at bernlohr Stadium in Bexley, Ohio.  

Box Score

For the second time this season, the Blue Streaks had a chance in the final minute of play to potentially force overtime end inside the ten-yard line. At Wilmington, JCU reached the one-yard line trailing by eight but a false start and incomplete pass on the final down proved costly.

This time around, it would be time that would run out with the Blue Streaks on the Capital seven-yard line.

Capital threatened at various times throughout the afternoon to run away from the Blue Streaks, but John Carroll was able to hang in to the final play. 

The Crusaders, ranked as high as #16 in the national polls, scored on their first possession of the contest. With 11:00 left in the opening quarter, Marty Assmann scored on a six-yard run to cap an eight-play, 55-yard drive.

The lead would be pushed to 14-0 early in the second quarter when Evan Blake hauled in an eight-yard pass from Marty Assmann.

JCU would answer with 4:05 left in the opening half when Jeffrey Javorek (Chesterland, OH, West Geauga) hooked up with Ross for a 27-yard touchdown play. Bradley Marchese (Columbus, OH, Saint Charles Prep) extra point made the score 14-7.

Capital would make the lead 14 points again as Michael Zag's ten-yard touchdown reception from Assman with just 1:42 left seemed to give the Crusaders momentum as the first half wound down, but the Streaks surprised the hosts with a five-play, 66-yard scoring drive that ended with a Javorek three-yard run. The drive took just 85 seconds and left just ten ticks left on the clock.

The second half proved why red zone field goals are not as valuable as red zone touchdowns. On John Carroll's first two possessions of the half, the Streaks would move inside the ten-yard line only to have the drive stall. A 16-play, 67-yard drive ended with a Marchese 24-yard field goal at the 5:40 mark of the third quarter, and a 13-play, 46-yard drive ended with a Marchese 21-yard field goal with 13:01 remaining int he fourth quarter.

JCU would only have two more possessions in the game, and the first ended on downs at the Capital 28-yard line. Capital, which had been held scoreless for the entire second half up to that point, answered with what proved to be the game-winning drive. Facing third-and-two on the JCU 41, the big play of the game occured when Assman found Matt White on a 40-yard pass play. Matt Merritt scored on the next play from one-yard out to put Capital ahead 28-20 with 3:09 left in regulation.

The Blue Streaks started their final drive on their own 28 and were able to get down to the Capital 14-yard line with 14 seconds left. Two incompletions left JCU with one last chance, but a completion to Ross ended with Ross being tackled at the seven-yard line.

Capital (5-1, 4-1 OAC), which bounced back from last weeks loss against Mount Union, was led by Assman who completed 16-24 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns.

John Carroll (3-3, 3-2 OAC) was led by Ross, who netted 228 yards recieving on 17 catches. His 17 catches are a JCU all-time record, besting the previous mark of 13 held by Larry Holmed and Hank Durica. The 228 receiving yards are the second best day in JCU history, behind only Sean Williams' school record 245 receiving yards amassed against Ohio Wesleyan in 1994.

The Streaks topped the Crusaders in first downs (24-18), yards passing (321-254), time of possession (35:06-24:54) and total offense (401-349) but not on the scoreboard as JCU fell to Capital for the fifth time in a row in Bexley.