Box Score
Two plays defined the night for John Carroll football team. One led to a game winning touchdown for the opponent, the other prevented its bid to score its own winning touchdown.

The end result was a perplexing 32-28 loss Saturday night at Don Shula Stadium to crosstown rival Baldwin Wallace in which the Blue Streaks let a double-digit fourth quarter lead slip away and with it, the chance to reclaim the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl. The win was the first by a road team in the series since 2001 and the first by Baldwin Wallace in University Heights since 1998.

Revenge was on the collective minds of the John Carroll University football team as they played host to the Yellow Jackets, who defeated the Blue and Gold by a score of 45-37 in the 2011 regular season finale.
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After winning the coin flip, the Blue and Gold elected to receive the opening kickoff and began moving the chains early. After failing to convert a fourth and 11 in BW territory, the Yellow Jackets responded by driving down the field on offense. Facing a third and goal from the JCU six-yard line, the Yellow Jackets were forced back five yards following a false start penalty. On third and goal from the 11 yard-line, BW quarterback Ryan O'Rourke found wide receiver Josiah Holt in the end zone to give the Yellow Jackets the early 6-0 lead. Following a successful PAT, the visiting team led the Blue Streaks by a score of 7-0 with 7:43 remaining in the first quarter.

Minutes later, the ever-capable Blue Streaks offense responded when sophomore Mark Myers launched a beautiful 67-yard touchdown pass to senior Lane Robilotto, eventually tying the game at seven with 4:55 remaining in the first.

The Yellow Jackets then found themselves in position to take the lead as they lined up for a 34-yard field goal attempt, but junior Alex Cameron blocked the kick for JCU and the Blue Streaks recovered the ball. However, the Blue and Gold wouldn't be able to capitalize on momentum and the first quarter ended with the two teams still tied at seven.

Scoring between the two teams would come to a halt until just minutes before halftime. Senior DaQuan Grobsmith took a toss play from the Baldwin Wallace three-yard line and extended to reach the right pylon, giving the Blue Streaks the 14-7 lead with 5:13 remaining in the second quarter. On the ensuing possession by the Yellow Jackets, the Blue and Gold forced a three-and-out from the BW offense, giving the ball back to their offense with 3:06 remaining in the second quarter. Unfortunately, the Blue Streaks were unable to punch in one more score before the half, punting the ball back to Baldwin Wallace.

With 34 seconds remaining in the first half, the Yellow Jackets had the ball on their own 43-yard line and it seemed as if the score would remain at 14-7 in favor of JCU. However, a 47-yard pass from O'Rourke gave BW the ball on JCU's 10-yard line with 24.6 seconds remaining before halftime. A gritty defensive stand from the Blue Streaks forced the Yellow Jackets to opt for a field goal on fourth down, cutting the lead to 14-10 in favor of JCU going into halftime.

Coming out of the intermission, the Blue Streaks kicked off to the Yellow Jackets while clinging to a four-point lead. Holt again made an impact play for BW as he returned the kickoff 50 yards to give the Yellow Jackets 1st and 10 on the JCU 42. Three plays later, Holt caught his second touchdown of the game on a 31-yard pass from O'Rourke, giving BW the lead at 17-14 with 14:01 remaining in the third quarter.

Looking to respond with a score of their own, the Blue Streaks offense started with the ball on their own 18-yard line. The JCU offense then fed Grobsmith the ball on six consecutive running plays, picking up two first downs in the process. A 21-yard pass from Myers to McCall kept the chains moving for Blue Streaks offense and Myers finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to senior Ben Madden. The PAT afterwards gave the Blue Streaks the 21-17 lead over Baldwin Wallace with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter.

On the following drive by BW, it appeared as if the Yellow Jackets were in prime position to score again as they marched down the field on the Blue Streaks defense. On fourth and goal from the JCU 9-yard line, the Yellow Jackets lined up for another field goal attempt and for the second time in three tries, the kick was blocked by the Blue Streaks.

Following the blocked kick, the Blue Streaks started with the ball at their own 20-yard line. A 47-yard rush from Grobsmith ended up giving JCU 1st and 10 on BW's 25-yard line early in the fourth quarter. A 13-yard run up the middle from Kuenzig gave the Blue Streaks the ball inside the Yellow Jackets 10-yard line, marking first and goal from the seven-yard line. Moments later, Kuenzig scored his first touchdown of the game on a three-yard run up the middle, giving the Blue Streaks a commanding 28-17 lead with 12:38 left in the game.

The scoring frenzy continued on the following drive when O'Rourke was able to sneak in for a 1-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal. Trailing by a score of 28-23, the Yellow Jackets opted to go for the two-point conversion and were successful, cutting the Blue Streaks' lead to three with 9:28 remaining in the game.

Baldwin Wallace's defense then made a statement as they were able to shut down the Blue Streaks' offense on the following drive, forcing a punt from senior Mike Malisheski. After moving the ball with similar success to past drives, the Yellow Jackets found themselves facing 4th and 13 on the JCU 33-yard line. The Blue Streaks defense stood tall and denied BW the first down, taking over possession of the ball on their own 33-yard line with 4:34 remaining.

On 3rd and 4 from their own 39-yard line, Myers was able to move the chains again for the Blue Streaks as he completed a 14-yard pass to senior Anthony D'Aurizio. The completed pass kept not only the chains moving for JCU, but the clock as well.

A dropped pass from junior Alex Kline led to a 4th and 9 punt from Malisheski, who pinned the Yellow Jackets on their own 15-yard line. On the first play of the drive, the Yellow Jackets struck gold as O'Rourke launched an 84-yard touchdown pass to Holt to re-claim the lead, 32-28.

The Blue Streaks offense took over from their own 22-yard line with 1:15 remaining and two timeouts to boot. Myers managed to engineer more than a few first downs, giving the Blue Streaks 1st and 10 from the BW 26-yard line with 24 seconds remaining.

However, the rally would fall short there as Myers threw his first interception of the season, signaling a 32-28 come-from-behind win for the Yellow Jackets on the road.

With the loss, the Blue Streaks fall to 1-1 on the season, including 0-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference competition. With the victory, #15 ranked Baldwin Wallace improves to 2-0 overall and holds on to the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl trophy for another year.

The Blue Streaks will next play on Saturday, Sept. 22 in Westerville, Ohio as they take on the host Otterbein Cardinals.