Until today, John Carroll had never lost to Heidelberg in University Heights.

It had also been since 1932, when the building known as Cleveland Municpal Stadium stood above (rather than in) the shores of Lake Erie, that John Carroll had been on the short end of the score as the "home" team.

But it was a big play day by the visiting Berg that at long last turned the tide. Heidelberg used three plays that covered over 50 yards in the second half to blow open a close game and take a 41-28 victory from the host Blue Streaks Saturday afternoon at Don Shula Stadium.

Box Score

In what was expected to be a battle between two highly touted offenses, the John Carroll University Blue Streaks and the Heidelberg University Student Princes began the game as a defensive battle before letting the offensive fireworks fly in the second half.

Heidelberg struck first, even though it turned the ball over on its first play. After forcing a three-and-out following a D. J. Debick interception, the Student Princes marched 10 yards in 56 plays, and finished the drive when James Sheahan hauled in an eight-yard pass from Michael Meeson a third-and-goal play

John Carroll answered with a Devin O'Brien 17-yard run on the next possession, but the only additional scoring would be a Dan Kilger 20-yard field goal for the remainder of the half. Kilger's kick gave the 'berg a lead it would not relinquish with 2;22 left in the first quarter.

The Blue Streaks continued to struggle to find a rhythm or gain any momentum to start the third quarter, but Heidelberg would begin to make them pay for their misfires starting with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Mees to junior wide receiver CJ Powell on its first offensive play of the second half..

The Student Princes added a Germany Woods touchdown run and another Kilger field goal to build a 17-point quarter and take a commanding 27-7 lead.

Trailing by three scores at the start of the fourth quarter, the Blue Streaks finally gathered some offensive momentum . O'Brien engineered an impressive drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass to senior fullback Corey Castro, cutting Heidelberg's lead to 27-14 with 10:50 remaining in the game.

Any thoughts of a comeback were immediately quashed. Following the JCU touchdown, the Student Princes responded by returning the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown -- courtesy of Cartel Brooks -- extending their lead over JCU to 34-14 and taking the wind out of the Blue Streaks' sails.

Brooks added a 57-yard touchdown run three minutes later to seal the victory.

Late touchdown grabs by Alex Kline (51 yards) and Anthony Libertini (7 yards) helped make the score more respectable, but it was a Heidelberg day in University Heights after 11 previous losing efforts

O'Brien had a career day with 329 yards and three touchdowns, but was sacked a season-high three times and was picked off twice. Kline led the team with 59 receiving yards while Castro had a team-best five receptions.

Debick and Dominique Hopkins had interceptions for the Blue Streaks, who finished the season 3-2 at home.

Woods led all players with 155 yards rushing on 24 carries to go along with his touchdown.

The Blue Streaks (5-4, 5-3 OAC) will now look to end the 2011 season on a positive note in their final game of the year against the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets in Berea, Ohio on Saturday, November 12th.