COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Crusader football team used 454 yards of offense through the air to defeat OAC rival Wilmington, 48-28 on Saturday at Bernlohr Stadium.
No. 4 Capital (3-0, 2-0 OAC) was paced by a career day from junior quarterback Marty Assmann (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley HS) who was 24-of-43 with three touchdowns and no interceptions against Wilmington (1-2, 1-1 OAC). He finished just 22 yards shy of the CU single-game record for passing (Dan Bartholomew at Otterbein, 9/22/01). Assmann is now 56-of-97 for 895 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions on the season.
Three different Crusader receivers collected at least 75 yards of offense on the afternoon. Senior Derick Alexander (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City HS) made seven catches for 138 yards and one score. He was followed by sophomore Matt White (Mason, Ohio/Mason HS) with four catches and a career-high 112 yards, as well as junior Evan Blake (Kingston, Ohio/Logan Elm HS) with three catches for 77 yards and one touchdown.
Overall the Capital offense out gained Wilmington 597-338 as CU averaged 8.1 yards per play. Although the Quakers held a 31:27 to 28:27 advantage in time of possession, the Crusaders took advantage of three turnovers including two interceptions including one that was returned for a touchdown by Ronnie Smith (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales HS) in the second quarter to secure victory.
Drew Stimmel (Delaware, Ohio/Delaware Hayes HS) paced the CU defense with 9.5 tackles including eight solo to go along with three pass breakups. Senior Pete Ankrom (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield North HS) followed with seven tackles including one for a loss while Bryan Shelton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain HS) made 3.5 stops including two sacks on the day.
Capital started with good field position in the first quarter, but had its first two drives stop at the Wilmington 35 yard line with no points on the board. Then after the Quakers were forced to punt for the third time in the opening quarter, the Crusaders took over on their own 42 yard line where the CU ground attack took over. After Assmann started with a 22-yard pass to Dominic D’Andrea (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley HS), a run by Ty Parks (Minster, Ohio/Minster HS) setup D’Andrea for a 17 yard run for the first touchdown of the game with just four seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Junior Tim Connor (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville HS) and the Crusaders got the ball back following a Wilmington fumble at the 20-yard line just 84 seconds later. Connor rushed the ball three straight times down to the three yard line to setup a 20-yard field goal by Garrett Bennington (Cambridge, Ohio/John Glenn HS) to put Capital on top 10-0 at 11:43 mark of the second quarter.
Wilmington countered with an eight-play, 82-yard drive the finished with a touchdown pass from Billy Blackburn to Astin Laury to cut the CU lead to 10-7, but Capital would come right back with its quick strike offense to score just three plays from scrimmage later. A 39-yard touchdown pass from Assmann to Blake with 5:49 remaining in the second quarter put the Crusaders back ahead by 10 at 17-7.
After the Quakers fielded the kickoff, Blackburn dropped back to pass on third down and 19 from his own 21 yard line. The pass sailed out of his hands and into the arms of Smith from Capital who returned it 34 yard for a touchdown as the Crusaders took a 24-7 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
A Capital turnover on its opening drive and touchdowns by Wilmington on their first two drives of the second half excited the Quaker sideline and pulled WC to within three at 24-21 with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter. From there the experience of Assmann took over for CU. His completion of 37 yards to White setup a 25 yard scoring strike to Matt Merritt just 65 seconds later to put Capital on top 31-21.
The next Crusader drive would be all Assmann as he was 4-of-5 for 52 yards ending on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Alexander at the 1:31 mark of the third quarter to give CU a 38-21 advantage.
Wilmington rebounded quickly to move the ball 71 yards on five plays in just 1:23 as Blackburn connected with Brandon Hiatt for a 51 yard touchdown pass on the final play of the third quarter to make a 38-28 game with Capital on top.
The Crusader aerial attack, led by Assmann, moved the ball 58 yards on six plays in its next drive to setup a 22-yard field goal by Bennington that gave CU some breathing room at 41-28 with 13:48 remaining. From there, the Capital defense stepped up to allow just 32 yards of offense and one first down to Wilmington in the final quarter of play.
Connor tacked on a three-yard touchdown run to cap an eight-play, 76 yard drive with 8:58 left to cap the day’s scoring as Capital defeated Wilmington, 48-28.
The Crusaders will host Marietta in their annual Homecoming Game next Saturday at Bernlohr Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET.