BEREA, Ohio – Visiting Capital could get nothing going offensively on a cold and rainy day in a 17-0 loss at Baldwin-Wallace in the Ohio Athletic Conference football finale for both teams. Capital closed out its season with a 5-5 overall record and a 4-5 mark in OAC play.
The Crusaders finished with only 58 yards of total offense in 50 plays from scrimmage led by senior Ty Parks (Minster, Ohio/Minster HS) and sophomore Dominic D’Andrea (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley HS) who had 13 yards rushing apiece. Junior Tim Conner (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville HS) had seven rushes for 11 yards.
Fellow sophomore Matt White (Mason, Ohio/Mason HS) made five catches for 49 yards, but Capital had just five first downs to 19 for Baldwin-Wallace.
Defensively, the Crusaders were led by a 13 tackle effort by Brad Pickens (New London, Ohio/Western Reserve HS). Eric Andriacco (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder HS), Sam Jacobs (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson HS) and Pete Ankrom (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield North HS) each had big days for the Capital defense with 11, 10 and nine tackles apiece.
Both sides played a first half that featured punts back and forth as the only scoring came when B-W ended a 10-play, 46-yard drive with a 27-yard field goal into the wind off the foot of Brad Pollock with 53 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Sophomore Tom Gantner (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley HS) punted seven times for an average of 40.4 yards per kick for Capital while Scott Nealon made five punts with an average of 33.4 yards per kick in the first half.
CU managed just 26 yards of total offense in 26 plays from scrimmage while Ty Parks led the way with 13 yards rushing on three carries. B-W countered with 151 yards of total offense in 42 plays while holding a 17:53 to 12:07 advantage in time of possession. Kyrel Crook had 14 rushes for 54 yards including a 21 yard scamper in the first half.
The Yellow Jackets were also hampered by three penalties for 25 yards and a 28-yard missed field goal as time expired in the first half.
Neither side could get much going on offense early in the second half until Baldwin-Wallace took advantage of a blocked Crusader punt attempt to take over at the Capital 37-yard line. The Yellow Jackets marched down the field and scored on the seventh play of the drive as Tim Miker scored a touchdown on a three-yard run over the right side on the second play of the fourth quarter for a 10-0 B-W advantage.
Capital would respond with three first downs on its next drive following the kickoff and were facing a fourth and three to go on the B-W 36 yard line when an interception on a deep pass down the middle ended the Crusader drive.
CU would regain possession when Bryan Shelton recovered a Yellow Jacket fumble on the B-W 37 yard line, but a dropped ball by the Capital quarterback and a fumbled snap by the Crusader punter would allow the Yellow Jackets to get the ball back in Capital territory on the 32 yard line.
From there, Capital would try to keep Baldwin-Wallace off the scoreboard but the Yellow Jackets would add on one more touchdown with an eight-play, 28-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run by Craig Lindsley with 44 second remaining to close out a 17-0 Yellow Jacket victory.