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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
28
Wabash WAB 4-1 , 2-1
31
Winner John Carroll JCU 4-1 , 3-0
Wabash WAB
4-1 , 2-1
28
Final
31
John Carroll JCU
4-1 , 3-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WAB Wabash 0 3 3 22 28
JCU John Carroll 14 14 0 3 31
Kenneth Rawls catch and run vs. Wabash 10-4-25
Jose Figueroa
Kenneth Rawls

Game Recap: Football | | JCUSID

#16/19 Blue Streaks Defeat #25 Wabash on Community Day

John Carroll Football dispatched the Little Giants despite a late Wabash comeback

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – On a beautiful, yet hot day, at Don Shula Stadium, #16/19 John Carroll Football did enough early to weather a second-half comeback attempt by #25 Wabash.

The Blue Streaks celebrated Community Day with a 31-28 victory, advancing to 4-1 at the halfway point of the regular season. 

After enjoying a 28-3 lead at halftime and a 31-6 lead at one point in the third quarter, John Carroll allowed a late Wabash surge to make things interesting. But JCU fielded a pair of onside kicks and picked up a critical first down late to ensure a second home victory. 

Against a confident Wabash team, the Blue Streaks charged out of the gates. On an 8-play, 79-yard drive, John Carroll made a statement by grabbing the lead. Cohen Klimak caught a 1-yard option pass on the playaction fake by Nick Semptimphelter. JCU forced a three-and-out on Wabash's first drive of the day. 

While JCU's offense stalled, so did Wabash's, and the Blue Streaks' special teams made a game-changing play. Cohen Klimak made a leaping block of the Little Giants' punt. The ball bounced into the end zone, where Eric Kasperowicz fell on the ball for a touchdown. 

"The coaches trust me in certain positions. They just put me [on punt returns] to block kicks on Tuesday and Wednesday," said Klimak. "We knew we had a chance to block one this week. It was a team effort. I just ran as fast I could and jumped and put my hands out and prayed. It was awesome and electric."

JCU's 14-0 lead stood through the end of the first quarter, at which point the Gridiron Club honored Dave Nichting '60, 68G. The offense responded with another score early in the second quarter. Semptimphelter completed a short pass on 3rd and Goal from the 6-yard line, finding Tyren Montgomery in the back of the end zone.

Wabash got on the board with 9:15 left in the second quarter after driving into JCU territory for the first time of the day. Brody Rucker catapulted a 49-yard field goal to slim the margin to 21-3. 

After Kenneth Rawls carried nearly the entire Wabash defense on a 24-yard catch and run, the graduate student hauled in a 17-yard strike, upping the JCU lead to 28-3. The Little Giants looked poised to respond after getting across the 50-yard line, but on a Wabash double pass, Gino Blasini snuck in for his first collegiate interception.

Leading 28-3 at halftime, the Blue Streaks stood in full control at halftime. The stats sheet helps to tell the story: JCU outgained Wabash, 306-66, including 189-14 through the air. Rawls surpassed 100 receiving yards, including 63 yards after the catch. 

Aided by JCU penalties, Wabash finally got some momentum with a First and Goal at the JCU 7-yard line, but then a Kenny Grobolsek pushed the Little Giants back nine yards. Wabash needed to settle for another field goal on the long 17-play drive. This time, a 38-yarder narrowed the gap to 28-6. 

The Blue Streaks' 22-point lead held through the third quarter. A couple minutes into the final period, the Blue & Gold got the points back. Colin Schuler nailed a 38-yarder field goal to up the lead to 31-6. 

A fumble recovery at JCU's 3-yard line with 10 minutes left set up the Little Giants in perfect position to score their first touchdown. On a trick play, Wabash did just that, breaking JCU's 11-quarter streak of not allowing a TD, and marking the first touchdown allowed in conference play by the Blue Streaks. The Little Giants converted the two-point conversion to slim the deficit to 31-14.

Wabash added another touchdown to trim the score to 31-21, and then made a stop after a failed onside kick, getting the ball back with 2:44 to play. The Little Giants made it very interesting with a 45-yard TD pass and catch, getting to within three points. Thankfully, Rawls recovered the onside kick and then Nemo Jenkins picked up a first down to ice it. 

"I give a lot of credit to Wabash, I knew they would fight. When it was 28-3 at halftime and 31-6, I knew they'd continue to play," said Behrman. "That's a credit to the coaching staff and players and the history of the program. That didn't surprise me. I just would have liked to see us execute better during the last stretch of the game and not give up points and yardage, and not convert first downs."

JCU finished with the lead in yards, 366-268. JCU's defense limited Wabash to just 68 yards on the ground, only 2.9 yards per carry.  

Nick Semptimphelter completed 21-of-28 passes for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns. Nemo Jenkins tallied 102 rushing yards to lead the ground game, while Rawls finished with 109 receiving yards. Kenny Grobolsek topped the defense with 7 tackles and 2 tackles for loss.

"I was told all week to not let one person tackle me," said Rawls. "That's the mentality you gotta have, just keep going. That boosts the offense. You just gotta driving forward." 

Next Up
John Carroll hits the road next week, heading to face Wittenberg University on Saturday, October 18 at 12 pm. 
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Play Visiting Team Score Home Team Score
1st Quarter WAB JCU
JCU
09:49 - JCU - Klimak,Cohen 1 yd pass from Semptimphelter,Nick (Schuler,Colin kick) 9 plays, 79 yards, TOP 04:50
0 7
JCU
04:15 - JCU - Kasperowicz,Eric 0 yd punt return (Schuler,Colin kick)
0 14
2nd Quarter WAB JCU
JCU
13:38 - JCU - Montgomery,Tyren 6 yd pass from Semptimphelter,Nick (Schuler,Colin kick) 8 plays, 72 yards, TOP 03:53
0 21
WAB
09:15 - WAB - Rucker,Brody 49 yd field goal 9 plays, 43 yards, TOP 04:23
3 21
JCU
05:30 - JCU - Rawls,Kenneth 17 yd pass from Semptimphelter,Nick (Schuler,Colin kick) 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:36
3 28
3rd Quarter WAB JCU
WAB
05:33 - WAB - Rucker,Brody 38 yd field goal 15 plays, 59 yards, TOP 05:00
6 28
4th Quarter WAB JCU
JCU
12:41 - JCU - Schuler,Colin 38 yd field goal 13 plays, 54 yards, TOP 07:52
6 31
WAB
10:06 - WAB - Alexander,TJ 3 yd run (Witte,Nick pass), 1 plays, 3 yards, TOP 00:06
14 31
WAB
04:34 - WAB - Campbell,Brand 1 yd run (Rucker,Brody kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:01
21 31
WAB
01:46 - WAB - Witte,Nick 45 yd pass from Campbell,Brand (Rucker,Brody kick) 6 plays, 69 yards, TOP 00:58
28 31

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