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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Quincy Newsom diving for the end zone
Doug Beigie

Football Jack Stephens, Staff Writer

Week 6 Football Preview: Plenty of Pageantry Surrounds Cuyahoga Gold Bowl

Football Jack Stephens, Staff Writer

Week 6 Football Preview: Plenty of Pageantry Surrounds Cuyahoga Gold Bowl

The Blue Streaks are looking to beat BW in perhaps the final Cuyahoga Gold Bowl for some time. 
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — Homecoming Weekend will be filled with excitement, as the John Carroll Blue Streaks are set to take on Baldwin Wallace.

Coming off an electric 49-14 win against the Capital last week, JCU is looking to continue the recent success. Running back Quincy Newsom had a career-high four touchdowns against the Comets, which has not been done since Josh DeLozier back in 2018 against Wilmington. The defense also held their own on the other side of the ball, allowing only 44 total yards in the first half.

The Blue Streaks will be battle tested on Saturday, as Baldwin Wallace holds a 4-1 record in 2024. After a heartbreaking loss to Mount Union, the Yellow Jackets bounced back with an impressive 36-7 victory over Otterbein. Quarterback Charlie Bubonics threw for 236 yards and four touchdowns against the Cardinals.

John Carroll has been in full control of the series, winning the past 11 contests. Last year, JCU won in dominant fashion, 30-7. Despite being down 7-0 after the first quarter, the Blue Streaks managed to score 30 unanswered points, thanks to former quarterback Joe Collins incredible 302 passing-yard performance.

The fun begins with the start of the South Belvoir tailgate at 10 am. Be sure to check out the Gridiron Club & Blue Gold tent. 

At halftime, the newest members of the John Carroll Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted: Ben Adams '09, '10G – Wrestling, Michael Corte '91 – Football, Pete Duggan '94 – Men's Soccer & Basketball, Genevieve Goergen '14 – Women's Soccer, Pete Iorillo '87 – Men's Tennis, Gabriella Kreuz '14 – Cross Country & Track, Jimmy Spagna '14 – Baseball, Melissa Spahar '14 – Women's Basketball, Dr. Andy Welki –Administrator, and the 1997 Football Team

Game Notes
Gameday Program
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Listen on WJCU 88.7 FM / WJCU.org
Tape Delay: Rock Entertainment Sports Network on Sunday from 3-6 pm & Friday, October 18 from 4-7 pm

The Offenses

JCU

The Blue Streaks are led by their elite passing attack with graduate student quarterback Nick Semptimphelter leading the charge. The Bucknell transfer currently is ranked 29th in the country in passing efficiency fresh off last week where he completed 17-of-19 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown. That takes his totals up to 235.4 passing yards per game and 12 touchdowns, each good for second in the OAC.

Time and time again, Semptimphelter continues to look in the direction of Tyren Montgomery, the leading receiver on this Blue Streaks squad. He had another big time performance last week pulling in four catches for 63 yards taking his season totals to 20 catches for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore Dorian Facen Jr also had a big day against the Comets catching four passes for 55 yards and his second touchdown of the season. Montgomery and Facen are going to have their hands full as Baldwin Wallace ranks third in the OAC in passing yards allowed this fall. 

The Blue Streaks continue to search for their bellcow back, but each game so far this season, someone new has taken a bulk of the carries and ran with it. Last week, it was Quincy Newsom. The Twinsburg product carried the ball a season high 12 times for 111 yards and four touchdowns. The sophomore currently leads the Blue Streaks in rushing touchdowns with six, all of which have come in the last two games. Wilmington transfer Nemo Jenkins also had a big day with 12 carries for a season-high 97 yards to go along with Newsom. Evan McVay also found paydirt and notched a long run. The Blue Streaks loaded running back room will look to crack through the Yellow Jackets rush defense, which ranks fifth in the OAC this season. 

BW

Looking at the Yellow Jackets statistics they play a very similar style of offense as the Blue Streaks. Led by their sophomore quarterback Charlie Bubonics, Baldwin Wallace has proven to be one of the conference's most efficient and elite passing attacks. 

A week ago, Bubonics had a career day against Otterbein. Completing 21-of-32 passes for 236 yards and a career high four touchdown passes. He also ran the ball for 10 yards and a touchdown. On the season, the Solon product leads the country in completion percentage (74.1%) while also having the conference's best touchdown to interception ratio, with 15 touchdown passes and only one interception. 

The bulk of the Yellow Jackets' touchdown receptions come from their top two targets, junior Tim Conwell and senior Oliver Kelleher. Last week, Conwell was the star, hauling in seven passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, Conwell has 25 catches for 318 yards and five touchdowns, good for second in the conference. Kelleher was quite last week on catching one pass, but the senior has been good all season having 18 receptions for 263 yards and four touchdowns. 

The Yellow Jackets' fourth best conference rushing attack is led by their bellcow back George Linberger. The Youngstown State transfer is a stocky back, standing at five foot ten, 225 pounds. Averaging nearly five yards per carry, with a season total of 277 yards on 56 carries and one touchdown. The Yellow Jackets also use some trickery in their running game using gadget quarterback Xavier Balson. The sophomore from North Olmsted, has carried the ball 21 times for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Defenses

JCU

The John Carroll defense is led by their fifth year senior Tyler Thimons and the rest of the front seven. Thimons has a team-high 35 total tackles, on his career he has 220, putting him in the top 20 all-time in John Carroll history in that statistic. His brother Joe, a junior, has been on a tear as of late when it comes to getting to the quarterback. He racked up four sacks and five and half tackles for loss in the last three games alone. Junior defensive end Ben Day has also been on a tear. After his big game against Muskingum that saw him tally two sacks and three pass breakups, he earned himself OAC athlete of the week. 

In the secondary, Lamar Thomas has been the leader with 25 total tackles, three pass breakups and a forced fumble on the season. Sophomore Jacob Hufnagel had a big game a week ago with two solo tackles, two pass breakups and an interception against the Comets. Facing a good quarterback and passing attack, watch out for the two young stars in the Blue Streak secondary to make a big impact. 

BW

It's been an up and down season for the Yellow Jackets defensively, but they are coming off their best performance a week ago against Otterbein and they look to continue that momentum into this rivalry matchup against John Carroll. 

Ranking third in the OAC in team sacks and fifth in total defense, they are going to look to their leading in their front seven, linebacker Dom Tromba, to shut down the JCU rushing attack. The junior leads the Yellow Jackets in tackles with 30 total tackles, two quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. 

Up front for BW, they are led in sacks by linebacker Nolan Hartsel and defensive linemen Jordan Smith, each racking up three in their five games so far. Not too far behind is defensive back and Ohio State transfer Colin Kaufmann, and JD Crouse each with two sacks. Kaufmann also has racked up 11 total tackles and one of the Yellow Jackets four interceptions defensively this year. They are going to need to attack the experienced Blue Streak offensive line and get to the quarterback if they want to pull the upset and defeat John Carroll for the first time in 12 years. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Ben Day

#99 Ben Day

DE
6' 2"
Junior
Dorian Facen Jr

#1 Dorian Facen Jr

WR
6' 2"
Sophomore
Jacob Hufnagel

#10 Jacob Hufnagel

DB
6' 1"
Sophomore
Evan McVay

#5 Evan McVay

RB
5' 8"
Senior
Quincy Newsom

#21 Quincy Newsom

RB
6' 1"
Sophomore
Tyler Thimons

#57 Tyler Thimons

LB
6' 0"
Graduate Student
Lamar Thomas

#6 Lamar Thomas

DB
5' 11"
Junior
Nemo Jenkins

#26 Nemo Jenkins

RB
6' 0"
Junior
Tyren Montgomery

#4 Tyren Montgomery

WR
6' 1"
Graduate Student
Nick Semptimphelter

#14 Nick Semptimphelter

QB
6' 1"
Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Ben Day

#99 Ben Day

6' 2"
Junior
DE
Dorian Facen Jr

#1 Dorian Facen Jr

6' 2"
Sophomore
WR
Jacob Hufnagel

#10 Jacob Hufnagel

6' 1"
Sophomore
DB
Evan McVay

#5 Evan McVay

5' 8"
Senior
RB
Quincy Newsom

#21 Quincy Newsom

6' 1"
Sophomore
RB
Tyler Thimons

#57 Tyler Thimons

6' 0"
Graduate Student
LB
Lamar Thomas

#6 Lamar Thomas

5' 11"
Junior
DB
Nemo Jenkins

#26 Nemo Jenkins

6' 0"
Junior
RB
Tyren Montgomery

#4 Tyren Montgomery

6' 1"
Graduate Student
WR
Nick Semptimphelter

#14 Nick Semptimphelter

6' 1"
Graduate Student
QB

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