John Carroll stuns Baldwin Wallace with 18-point 4th Quarter comeback

Berea, OH- Fans packed into George Finnie Stadium early today, as the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets honored their seniors prior to the game. However, this game would leave a sour taste in the mouth of the BW seniors and the rest of the team as well. The Yellow Jackets controlled the game from the opening series and led 28-10 with 12 minutes left in the 4^th quarter, but The John Carroll Blue Streaks came storming back with 19 unanswered points to seal the victory.

This was a must win game for Baldwin Wallace coming into the game, for they were 8-1 coming into the game. A win would pretty much guarantee them a shot in the upcoming playoffs.

In the opening quarter, the attention was on the matchup between BW’s offense and JCU’s defense. Baldwin Wallace is known for their explosive run-heavy offense, while John Carroll ranks 2^nd in the OAC in terms of run defense. One of these things was going to have to give. On a chilly Saturday afternoon.

The game looked like it would prove to be a defensive battle, as neither team played an offensive position in opponent territory until JCU Defensive End Jack Burton recovered a fumble by Baldwin Wallace QB Keagan Armitage. This gave the Blue Streaks excellent field position, although they were only able to convert this into a field goal, giving JCU a 3-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the first.

After this score by JCU, the BW offense came alive for the rest of the half. The Yellow Jackets started to get away from their run heavy offense with some clever play-action passes that continued to fool the John Carroll Defense. Quarterback Keagan Armitage would first throw a 32-yard strike to Darius Stokes in the endzone to take an early 7-3 lead early in the 2^nd quarter. The Yellow Jacket defense then made a huge play on John Carroll’s All-OAC Quarterback Jake Floriea when Frank Soukup forced a fumble on the quarterback and Mason Levasseur recovered the football to set up the Baldwin Wallace offense with great field position.

The Yellow Jackets then fed the rock to running back Jon Murray Jr., who saw a lot of volume today on his way to 87 rushing yards. Murray also set the Baldwin Wallace all-time rushing yards record today on a 6-yard rush up the middle in the 2^nd quarter.

The Yellow Jackets drove their offense through John Carroll territory, until Armitage scored on a designed Quarterback run to make the score 14-3 in favor of Baldwin Wallace with 8:20 left in the 2^nd quarter.

Baldwin Wallace would go on to score one more time before the half after stuffing John Carroll running back Mason Sullivan on a 4^th and 2 opportunities in the red zone. The Yellow Jackets proceeded to drive right up the field before Armitage threw a beautiful ball to wide receiver Iyan Mitchell, with 30 seconds remaining in the half. Mitchell was all over the field today for the Yellow Jackets, playing wide receiver, defensive back and punt returner.

John Carroll then decided to just run the clock out on the rest of the half, for they would get the ball at the half.

John Carroll’s opening drive of the 2^nd half resembled much of their offense in the 1^st half, a 3-play 3 and out. Baldwin Wallace then took over and also had a 3 and out, with defensive end Bricker Thiel making a nice tackle on the quarterback to force a punt.

John Carroll got the football back and proceeded to feed freshman running back Evan McVay, who had a stellar day on the ground for John Carroll. McVay was the focal point on this drive until Jake Floriea hit wide receiver Brennan Fugh with a nice 20-yard pass for a first down. This catch would result in Fugh getting to 1,000 receiving yards on the season, becoming only the 4^th Blue Streak in program history to eclipse this mark in a single season.

Floriea then threw a touchdown pass to Devin Limerick with 5:22 remaining in the 3^rd quarter to make it a 21-10 ball game in favor of Baldwin Wallace.

The Yellow Jackets and Blue Streaks then traded 3 and outs to wrap up the 3^rd quarter.

The Yellow Jackets then got the ball back to start the 4^th quarter. The offense was leaning heavily on the run game, including a flurry of designed QB run from Armitage which proved to be highly effective. The Yellow Jackets then scored on a Quarterback sneak up the middle on a gutsy 4^th and inches play call, making the score 28-10 with 11:52 remaining in the 4^th quarter.

These were the last points the Yellow Jackets would score; it was all John Carroll for the rest of the game.

The Blue Streaks came out in their next drive needing to score in a hurry, and boy did they ever. Floriea hit Fugh with a 48-yard bomb before Fugh was taken down at the 1-yard line. McVay then punched it in for a 1-yard score, making it a 28-16 game with 8:21 remaining in the 4^th quarter. The Streaks attempted to go for a 2-point conversion but failed to convert.

The Yellow Jackets followed that score up with a 3 and out, and the Streaks took over on offense on their own 43-yard line.

On a 3^rd and 5 passing play, Fugh dropped a huge pass from Floriea that would’ve been a 1^st down and more, but they made up for it when Keyshawn Coleman caught a 5-yard pass that resulted in a 4^th down conversion for John Carroll. This seemed to be the momentum swing the Streaks needed.

McVay then caught a screen pass at the Baldwin Wallace 40-yard line and took it all the way to the house the make the game 28-22 with 4:02 remaining in the 4^th quarter. The once raucous crowd at Baldwin Wallace seemed to fall a little timid once the Streaks pulled within 6 of them.

The Blue Streak defense then forced ANOTHER Baldwin Wallace punt, and the Streaks got the ball back with 2:11 left on the clock to try and win this rivalry game.

They faced their first big test on the drive on a 4^th and 2 play in their own territory, they converted on a Floriea pass to Fugh, who put up huge numbers on a day where they were just totally on the same page.

Fugh then had another catch to put the Streaks into Yellow Jacket territory. They then got some help from some Yellow Jacket penalties, which ended up putting the Streaks deep into opponent territory

Floriea then threw a beautiful touchdown pass to Joe Torock for a Blue Streak touchdown with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 28. Kicker Grant Gonya then booted the extra point through the uprights, and the John Carroll Blue Streaks completed an 18-point 4^th quarter comeback to take the lead with 45 seconds left.

The Yellow Jackets’ offense then got the opportunity to make a miracle happen with 38 seconds left, but were unable to make anything happen, resulting in a 29-28 victory in the annual Cuyahoga Gold Bowl. This was the 9^th straight victory in the annual rivalry game for the Blue Streaks over Baldwin Wallace, and the Streaks got to end their season on a high note.

What. A. Game.