Many new faces emerged during a 21-7 John Carroll win over the Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers Saturday at Don Shula Stadium in the second overall meeting between these two teams.

On a team with just 15 seniors on the roster, there was bound to be some names making plays that the Blue Streak faithful would not immediately recognize. Names like Leopold, Limerick and Floriea.

With junior Jake Floriea, a transfer from University of Penn and University of Toledo, under center for the first time as a Blue Streak in his second season with the team, the offense went three-and-out.

Once Floriea settled in, so did the Blue Streaks offense. 

On the second offensive drive of the game, he drove the offense 59 yards down the field and positioned JCU to capitalize on a touchdown opportunity. Sophomore Devin Limerick, in his second year with John Carroll, nearly put an exclamation point with a touchdown on the drive but a chop block backed the Blue Streaks up 15 yards.

"We had too many penalties — Too many self-inflicted wounds," head coach Rick Finotti said afterwards. "Here is the one thing as a coach. You can go into it worrying about penalties and play soft, or you can get after teams and have a few penalties.

"It was maybe a little too much today. We were aggressive but we need to reign that in."

A play later, sophomore Anthony Lupo lined up for a 28-yard field goal but the kick clanged off the upright and was no good. 

It took another drive to work out the kinks but the Blue and Gold offense strung together another hefty drive. Over the course of 7:36, Floriea looked like a seasoned veteran as he drove his team down the field 77 yards. On fourth and goal, he capped it off with his first career rushing touchdown. 

"Those first couple drives, we started pretty slow," Floriea said. We kept telling ourselves that we were shooting ourselves in the foot. We had all these penalties and missed assignments. That was what was stopping us.

"Once the nerves settled down for everyone, we really got rolling. That drive got us on track and got us started. It ended up winning the ball game for us."

The Joe Schaefer led defense limited the Pointers to just 79 yards in the first half. Meanwhile, the JCU offense continued to score.

In his first two-minute drive as a Blue Streak, Floriea led the offense down the field 53 yards in 42 seconds. Limerick scored his first touchdown of the season from 18 yards out but did not do it with ease. He had to break three tackles and complete a spin move to get into the end zone. 

"My offensive linemen did a great job blocking for me," Limerick said. 

The Wisconsin-Stevens Point offense remained jet lagged but the Pointers did find their way into the end zone midway through the third quarter. 

On the Pointers next offensive drive, starting quarterback Max Herro suffered a leg injury. Senior Chad Stalnaker pressured Herro on the play he was injured and Tyler Fredrick sacked Herro on the play before.

Fredrick led the team with 11 tackles and three tackles with loss. Stalnaker was just behind him with nine tackles, one for loss.

"Tyler is a great force in there. He is a great technician and plays with a great effort," Finotti said. "He has started four years here. Chad has started three years here. The confidence those guys have … they are great mentors."

Stevens Point hung around until sophomore Nate Leopold took a 49 yard punt return for a touchdown. 

"It was a low, driving, kick. I knew I had a chance once I hit the hole," Leopold said when describing his first return touchdown in his football playing career. "The rule is to make the first guy miss and it parted like the red sea. The guys did a great job of creating a seam for me."

That return left the Pointers playing catch up for the final quarter but they never caught up.

The Blue Streaks defense shut down Stevens Point on their final two offensive drives of the game. The Pointers covered 60 yards in 6:45 in the two possessions but had a total of six incomplete passes on the last set of downs during the series. 

JCU's stout defensive effort limited Stevens Point to just 2.1 yards per carry in the game.

"Our defense played the game that we expected," said Finotti. "The way they handled it with their backs against the wall, I love the aggression of those guys."

That aggression will have to wait two weeks before the Blue Streaks are back again. JCU's next game is against Otterbein in Westerville, Ohio, on September 21. 

"Based on the strength of our schedule and the toughness of the conference, to get that win week one and start the season on a roll," said Fredrick. "We have the opportunity this coming week to get better."