After a shaky start, the Blue Streaks kicked their offense into gear and cruised to a 37-24 victory Saturday on a beautiful fall day full of big plays at Don Shula Stadium.  

The victory against Capital University improved John Carroll's record to 5-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference. 

Box Score

Following a fumble on their first possession, the Blue Streaks battled their way back to defeat the Crusaders at Don Shula Stadium.  Before they walked off the field, there was a lot of trading touchdowns.

The fumble on the first possession for the Blue Streaks resulted in a Crusader touchdown and a 7-0 lead.  Capital recovered the ball on their 20 yard line, after JCU senior Devin O'Brien had attempted to hand off the ball to junior Sean Keunzig.

The next possession for the Blue Streaks wouldn't be so devastating -- at least for the home crowd of 2,266.  Junior Ben Madden caught a 57 yard pass from O'Brien for John Carroll's first points, tying the score at 7-7. 

“It was a good start,” explained Madden.  “We don't usually start strong, but it gave us some good momentum.”

However Capital responded by putting up seven points, and ended the first quarter with a 14-7 lead.

After coming out strong in the second quarter and driving the ball down the field, JCU head coach Regis Scafe made the decision to trust his quarter back to go for it on fourth and one at the 1-yard line.

His trust was well placed as O'Brien rushed into the end zone for a touchdown.  Junior Brad Marchese's extra point tied the score at 14-14.  The Blue Streaks never trailed after that.

Exactly six minutes later, O'Brien's fake handoff fooled Capital and ran 15 yards for JCU's third touchdown.  A Marchese extra-point would make the score 21-14.

The clock read 3:34 left in the first half, and the defense knew it was their turn to step up their game.

And they did.

On a second and 10, senior C.J Seitzinger sacked Capital quarterback Josh Anderson for a six-yard loss.  But Anderson wasn't done feeling the wrath of the JCU defense as linebacker Matt Feeney put Anderson down for the second time, forcing Capital to punt on a fourth and 22.

A bad punt from the Crusaders bounced out on the John Carroll 48 yard line with 1:53 to go in the first half.

The Blue Streaks would have the last possession of the game where Marchese kicked a 41 yard field goal to end the first half 24-14.

The Crusaders put up a fight in the second half, but were unable to come close to challenging the Blue Streaks lead.
JCU freshman Dominic De La Riva came into the game and scored twice, on a run and a reception, in the fourth quarter.

“I didn't think I'd be able to get as much time as I did,” said De La Riva.  “Unfortunately some of the guys on the team got hurt [in previous games], but I was glad I got to come in and step up to work with these guys.”

One of those guys that De La Riva's been working with most is O'Brien, who was all smiles after the game and celebrating with family members.  Even a Coach from Capital came over and congratulated him on a job well done.

“Being able to effectively pass and run keeps every defense we play against on their toes,” said O'Brien.

JCU's will look for their second straight win against Heidelberg in the Blue Streak's last home game.

“We know Heidelberg has a great offense,” said O'Brien.  “We just have to keep running those long drives, put up points, and work as hard as we can.”