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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
37
Winner John Carroll JCU 8-2 , 8-1
22
Otterbein OTT 0-10 , 0-9
Winner
John Carroll JCU
8-2 , 8-1
37
Final
22
Otterbein OTT
0-10 , 0-9
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
JCU John Carroll 7 14 6 10 37
OTT Otterbein 0 7 7 8 22
Jahiem Peake and Tyler Thimons
Austin Tenzer
With the victory, John Carroll finishes the regular season at 8-2.

Game Recap: Football | | Jake Vulinec, Staff Writer

Blue Streaks Conclude Regular Season with a Victory at Otterbein

WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- The Blue Streaks entered the final week of regular season play at 7-2 and the winless Otterbein Cardinals left on the schedule. John Carroll was sure to keep the birds out of the win column, with a dominant victory, 37-22.

With the win, the Blue Streaks end the regular season at 8-2, hoping for an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship. 

This marks the fourth time in five seasons the Blue Streaks have tallied 8 or more wins in a season. 

Freshman quarterback Nikko Georgiou got his first collegiate start for the Blue and Gold. He entered the day with just 14 pass attempts, but wasted no time on the first drive of the game. Georgiou put up 38 yards through the air during a five-minute drive and connected with fellow freshman Dorian Facen Jr. in the endzone to give the Blue Streaks a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. 

A muffed punt allowed the Cardinals to push into the red zone on their first drive of the game, but Joe Thimmons was able to take advantage of pressure in the face of Cayden Lassiter, intercepting his pass on the 13-yard line. 

Georgiou continued to show everyone he was capable of leading this offense as the team began to lean on the run, including the final two rushes. Evan McVay picked up nine yards and marched into the endzone for the fifth time this season on the ground to give John Carroll a two-score lead early in the second quarter.

There was no sense of slowing up in the first half for JCU. After an Otterbein punt, Quincy Newsom was leaned on heavily to start the next drive, logging five carries in six plays (the other being a run by Georgiou). After battering and bruising their way into Cardinals territory, Jack Cardaman worked his way open downfield, snagged a ball, and trotted into the endzone for a total of 32 yards. While the sophomore returned a kick for a touchdown earlier this season, the touchdown grab was the first TD reception of his collegiate career and pushed the Blue Streaks up by 21. 

Just before the half, the team hailing from Westerville put together another effective drive. Lassiter found Owen Menge for 35 yards, then turned it over to Matt Griffin to power put his head down and impose his will. The freshman stomped his way in for a score just before the half came to a close, to put Otterbein on the board, 21-7. 

The score held there at the half, but Otterbein felt the moment begin to shift because the offense stayed hot. Another big pass play, Lassiter to Armani Burton for 34 yards, powered the drive, but it was closed out by Griffin again, five yards on the ground for a touchdown. Without the Blue Streak offense able to get on the field, they were operating just up by seven.

Georgiou and the JCU offense did not bat an eye. After being so consistent with the run game, the Blue & Gold turned to the air. Starting from its own 25, JCU found three completions of more than 15 yards (Tyler Mintz, Facen Jr., and Joe Torok on the grabs). Just grazing the edge of the red zone, the Blue Streaks turned back to the run. Javi Quimba responded quickly, taking his first carry of the drive in for a 20-yard score. Yanni Volas was unsuccessful on the point after try for the first time since September 16 against Baldwin Wallace. At 27-14, John Carroll stood on top of the Cardinals late in the third quarter. 

Two Otterbein punts put the Blue Streaks back on offense, starting just behind midfield. One play was all it took to enter the red zone for JCU, a 38-yard reception to Mintz. Facen Jr. hauled one in for 15 yards as well, putting the Blue Streaks inside the 5-yard line. However, a massive defensive stand from the Cardinals forced a field goal. Yanni Volas nailed the 23-yard attempt to extend JCU's lead to 30-14 early in the fourth quarter.

A late interception for Jacob Hufnagel in Otterbein territory set up Javi Quimba to put the final fixings on the game with just less than five minutes remaining. The freshman broke loose for a 30-yard rushing touchdown. Otterbein's Aydn Snyder responded with a 10-yard TD catch and converted two-point try with less than 30 seconds on the clock to finalize the scoring, 37-22. 

Georgiou finished with a nice statline of 18-of-25 passing for 252 yards and 3 TDs. JCU tabbed 115 rushing yards led by Javi Quimba's 51 yards. Jahiem Peake guided the defense with 11 tackles and 1 pass breakup, while fellow senior Tyler Thimons starred besides him with 11 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. Jake Phillips tabbed 8 tackles plus a sack. Hufnagel balled out after getting a shoutout from Michael Vick on X, picking off a pass and tallying 6 tackles and 2 pass breakups in a career day. 

With the win, John Carroll closes their regular season at 8-2, with their losses coming against Mount Union (ranked #2 in Division III by d3football.com) and UW-Whiterwater (ranked #5 in Division III by d3football.com). 

The Blue Streaks' season likely comes to a close, but they'll keep their eyes out for the NCAA Division III selection show tomorrow, November 12 at 5 pm to find out if there's more football in their future. 
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Play Visiting Team Score Home Team Score
1st Quarter JCU OTT
JCU
09:31 - JCU - Dorian Facen Jr 12 yd pass from Nikko Georgiou (Yanni Volas kick) 11 plays, 68 yards, TOP 5:23
7 0
2nd Quarter JCU OTT
JCU
14:13 - JCU - Evan McVay 6 yd run (Yanni Volas kick), 10 plays, 84 yards, TOP 5:25
14 0
JCU
08:03 - JCU - Jack Cardaman 32 yd pass from Nikko Georgiou (Yanni Volas kick) 7 plays, 58 yards, TOP 4:29
21 0
OTT
00:14 - OTT - Matt Griffin 1 yd run (Hayden Brooke kick), 7 plays, 64 yards, TOP 2:19
21 7
3rd Quarter JCU OTT
OTT
09:00 - OTT - Matt Griffin 5 yd run (Hayden Brooke kick), 12 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:51
21 14
JCU
05:40 - JCU - Javi Quimba 20 yd pass from Nikko Georgiou (Yanni Volas kick failed) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:20
27 14
4th Quarter JCU OTT
JCU
10:10 - JCU - Yanni Volas 22 yd field goal 8 plays, 49 yards, TOP 3:26
30 14
JCU
04:51 - JCU - Javi Quimba 30 yd run (Yanni Volas kick), 2 plays, 38 yards, TOP 0:42
37 14
OTT
00:21 - OTT - Adyn Snyder 10 yd pass from Cayden Lassiter (Armani Burton pass) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:21
37 22

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