After a season during which the Blue Streaks defeated two schools who have combined for each of the last 11 NCAA Division III National Championships, John Carroll's bid for a spot in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl fell short by one game on Saturday afternoon in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
UW-Oshkosh and John Carroll played a game for the ages at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium, which finished as the lowest scoring game in NCAA Division III Championship history. The Titans clinched a spot in their first NCAA Championship game with a 10-3 win over the Blue Streaks, despite a valiant comeback attempt in the game's final two minutes. They will play the Crusaders from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, who defeated reigning national champion Mount Union, 14-12, in the other National Semifinal.
John Carroll's senior class graduates as the most successful class in school history. The Blue Streaks are 40-8 since the beginning of 2013 with three trips to the NCAA post-season, two berths in the NCAA Quarterfinal and one berth in the NCAA Semifinal.
As had been the case for most of John Carroll's run through the post-season, their defense completely shut down the Titans' offense in the first half. But UW-Oshkosh wouldn't budge either as the teams went into the halftime locker room locked in a scoreless tie.
John Carroll ran 32 plays for 121 yards and had most of its success running the football. Ro Golphin carried seven times for 38 yards, while Sam Kukura had five carries for 31 yards. Anthony Moeglin completed 7-of-15 passes for 54 yards at the intermission.
Titans' quarterback Brett Kasper completed 8-of-11 first half passes, but several completions came on shovel passes. The Blue Streaks defense limited four UW-Oshkosh ball carriers to combine for 20 yards on 14 carries. Jovon Dawson played especially well, finishing the first half with nine tackles (six solo tackles).
Not surprisingly, neither team ran a play in the red zone. Both sides had six first half possessions and punted five times. John Carroll misfired on a fourth down conversion try and the Titans finished the first half by running out the clock.
John Carroll only showed significant life one time during the first half when they moved the ball on their second drive. The Blue Streaks took the ball at their own 20 and marched 48 yards on 12 plays, but Anthony Moeglin's fourth down pass into the end zone for Nico James was batted away.
"You never really know how a game is going to go, but after the first quarter it felt like it would be a low scoring game," said Arth after the game.
UW-Oshkosh came out of the locker room with a different look as Dylan Hecker ran several times out of the wildcat formation. Hecker and senior Devon Linzenmeyer ran the ball up the field together, while Brett Kasper completed a key third down pass to Max Fuller. Kasper finished the 9-play, 71-yard drive with a 3-yard naked bootleg run for a score to put the Titans on the board first. It proved to be the game's only touchdown.
As the Blue Streaks looked for an answer, Anthony Moeglin completed a third down throw to Eddie Williamson to move the chains on JCU's ensuing drive. Moeglin looked back to Williamson on the next Blue Streaks' third down conversion. As the play began to break down for the JCU signal caller, Moeglin found Williamson streaking down the right side and floated a perfect 30-yard pass into his waiting arms. But Williamson juggled it and Titans safety Cole Yoder intercepted the pass.
The JCU defense responded nicely and forced UW-Oshkosh to punt after Mason McKenrick nearly intercepted Kasper's third down throw. Aaron Pruitt and Marshall Howell moved the Blue Streaks close to midfield on back-to-back plays, but John Carroll's drive stalled again. Moeglin was hit as he tried to throw a screen pass and the ball flailed into defensive lineman Justin Watson's arms for Moeglin's second interception of the second half.
UW-Oshkosh took over at the JCU 45 yard line and finished off the third quarter with a couple of running plays. Still down 7-0, John Carroll hadn't been held scoreless through three quarters since September 18th, 2010 against Mount Union. The UW-Oshkosh drive continued for a few plays before stalling on the JCU 17. Eli Wettstein tried to give the Titans a two-score lead, but his 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
With the Titans' momentum waning, John Carroll took over on their own 20. But the Titans delivered a back-breaking dagger by intercepting Moeglin for the third time in the second half. This time, Christian Bettin picked off the JCU freshman and put UW-Oshkosh on the 12 yard line. Moeglin finished the game 19-for-39 for 157 yards and three interceptions.
John Carroll's defense stepped up and forced three straight ineffective plays, giving Wettstein another shot to extend the UWO lead. This time, he banged in a 32-yard field goal to give the Titans a 10-0 edge with 10:12 left in regulation.
John Carroll's offense sputtered on their first three plays of the ensuing drive, but Moeglin found Eddie Williamson for a 12-yard gain on fourth and two to keep JCU's hopes alive. Then after a short completion to Mark Baniewicz, Moeglin scrambled for John Carroll's biggest play of the day. His 28-yard burst gave John Carroll a first down at the UW-Oshkosh 17 yard line – the first time all game that the Blue Streaks moved into the red zone.
With under seven minutes to go in the game, Moeglin found Marshall Howell on third down to put the ball at the seven yard line. Moeglin's next pass to Baniewicz was completed to the one yard line, but the call was overturned after a replay review. Two plays later, Matt Danko nailed a 24-yard field goal to pull John Carroll's deficit to 10-3 with exactly five minutes to go.
UW-Oshkosh took over with a chance to close out the game. Dylan Hecker ran the ball on four consecutive plays (including a first down carry) before the Blue Streaks burned one of their two remaining time outs with 2:44 left in the affair. Tom Arth quickly called his last timeout with 2:39 left in the game after a short carry by Devon Linzenmeyer that set up third and nine from the UW-Oshkosh 47 yard line.
Hecker got back to the line of scrimmage, but was stuffed by the Blue Streaks' defensive line, forcing the Titans to punt. John Carroll got the ball back with 1:48 left in the game needing a touchdown to potentially force overtime.
Moeglin scrambled for five yards on first down, but a false start backed the Blue Streaks up five yards before the second down play with 1:20 left on the clock. After an incompletion, Moeglin fired a 14-yard pass to Nico James for a first down.
Moeglin refused to go down without a fight as he completed passes to Williamson, Baniewicz and Howell, giving the Blue Streaks second and one on the UWO 42 yard line with 27 seconds left. Moeglin tried to find Howell on a deep post over the middle, but Cameron Brown deflected the pass away at the last second to set up third and one.
"I feel great about Anthony's maturation," said head coach Tom Arth. "He's an incredible leader and he's the right guy to lead our program. He's worked hard and this is just going to motivate him to get better."
Moeglin took things into his own hands with a 7-yard scramble to move the chains to the 35. After spiking the ball, JCU had 12 seconds to tie the game. But Moeglin was sacked by Reese Dziedzic on the final play of the game to finish the Blue Streaks season.
"This group of seniors is really special to me. They were the first group of guys that I had a chance to recruit and they mean everything to me," Arth said, as he got emotional during the post-game press conference. "The seniors are what this moment is all about. They won't be remembered by this game, they'll be remembered for all that they did during four incredible years in this program."
"We've never talked about winning and losing," he continued". We've just talked about playing our best and leaving everything out there and our guys have giving everything for each other. I'm so proud of the way our players competed today."
John Carroll's storybook season comes to a close after matching a program record with 12 wins, including victories of perennial powerhouses Mount Union and UW-Whitewater. The Blue Streaks won their fourth Ohio Athletic Conference Championship and their first since 1994. In a small twist of irony, the Blue Streaks will open 2017 at home against the UW-Oshkosh Titans.
