Baldwin-Wallace scored 20 unanswered points in the second half as it defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Muskingum University, 27-16, on Saturday at McConagha Stadium in New Concord.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the OAC and reached the seven-win plateau for the first time since 2006. B-W is now tied for second place with No.12-ranked Ohio Northern University at 6-1 in the OAC and one game behind first place Mount Union (8-0, 7-0 OAC).

B-W piled up 211 total yards on the ground, including 100-plus yard games from North Ridgeville’s John McGraw and Parma Senior’s Tim Miker.

In the first quarter, B-W opened up the scoring at the 10:36 mark when Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke connected on a 27-yard touchdown pass to cap a 6-play, 84-yard drive. The key play on the drive was 41-yard completion on third down from O’Rourke.

O’Rourke threw his second touchdown of the game to Ashland’s Anthony Fairhurst on the first play of the fourth quarter.

B-W was led offensively by McGraw who carried the ball 19 times for 125 yards. Through the air, O’Rourke was 9 of 19 passing for 147 yards including three TD passes.

Elyria’s Mitch Tulk had three tackles for loss totaling 14 lost yards.

swalker@MorningJournal.com