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

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw four touchdown passes, leading Baldwin-Wallace to an Ohio Athletic Conference shutout over Wilmington College on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

O’Rourke completed 19 of 26 passes for 259 yards and the four TDs, and the Yellow Jacket offense outgained the Quakers, 433-145.

B-W opened the scoring at 4:40 mark of the first quarter when O’Rourke threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tiffin Columbian’s Aaron Hurd to cap a 6-play, 54-yard drive.

B-W increased its lead to 14-0 when O’Rourke threw a 28-yard TD pass to Devin Woods (Naples, Fla./ Golden Gate) on a ball that deflected off of a Wilmington players hands.

B-W’s lead grew to 24-0 before halftime when O’Rourke threw his third TD pass of the game, this one a 23-yarder to junior Dan Turner (Youngstown/Ursuline).

O’Rourke tossed his career-high fourth TD pass to Westerville North’s Troy Van Meter, who caught a career-high nine passes for 113 yards.

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw led the running game with 59 yards in 11 attempts.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Baldwin-Wallace lost to Ohio Athletic Conference rival and 13th-ranked Ohio Northern University, 41-21 at Dial-Roberson Stadium in Ada. The loss snapped a five-game Yellow Jacket win streak.

With its win, Ohio Northern is now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets are now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the OAC.

Down 7-0, Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to St. Ignatius’ Kevin Johnson to tie the game at 7.

Down 14-7, O’Rourke scored on a 7-yard TD run, capping a 13-play, 60-yard drive.
Ohio Northern then scored 21-straight points to close out the half with a 35-14 lead.
In the third quarter, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw scored on a 1-yard TD run, capping a 12 play 93-yard drive, making the score 35-21.

O’Rourke completed 12 of 23 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. McGraw rushed for 44 yards and one TD. Midview’s Josiah Holt caught four passes for 33 yards.

On defense, Amherst’s Ryan Kish led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles and two tackles for loss.

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Midview’s Josiah Holt returned one of two kickoffs and Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw for a touchdown as Baldwin-Wallace pulled out a one-point victory over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein University, 35-34 Saturday on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

With the Yellow Jackets trailing 34-28, B-W went on an 8-play, 59-yard game-winning drive that was capped when Parma’s Tim Miker scored on a 23-yard run to tie the score at 34-34. Then, following an Otterbein timeout, Brecksville’s Brad Pollock kicked the game-winning point for the win.

With its victory, B-W is now 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. The 5-0 start is B-W’s first since 2004.

The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring in the first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead when O’Rourke threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Edison’s Josh Oswald.

Holt returned a kickoff 90 yards for the third kick return for a touchdown of the game. That gave the Yellow Jackets a 21-20 lead.

The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by Miker with 70 rushing yards in 10 attempts, including the game-tying TD, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw with 53 yards in 12 attempts and O’Rourke who completed 9 of 18 passes for 103 yards and a TD.

The defense was led by Amherst’s Ryan Kish, the reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week, with nine tackles, three tackles for loss and one quarterback sack.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action next Saturday, Oct. 16 when they travel to Ada, Ohio to play 16th-ranked Ohio Northern University at Dials-Roberson Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown, while also running for another as Baldwin-Wallace remained unbeaten at 4-0 overall with a 39-9 victory on Saturday over Marietta on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

The Yellow Jackets remained in first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 3-0 league mark.

O’Rourke put the Yellow Jackets up 16-3 with a one-yard quarterback sneak then helped extend the lead to 26-9 when he threw a 25-yard TD pass to North Ridgeville’s John McGraw.

Midview’s Josiah Holt tied for the team lead with six catches. Amherst’s Ryan Kish was the leader defensively with 12 tackles, including 2.5 quarterback sacks and 3.5 tackles for lost yardage.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw helped get the Yellow Jackets off to a good start, gaining 65 yards on 13 carries in Baldwin-Wallace’s 38-14 win over Wooster on Thursday.

McGraw, who missed virtually the 2008 season with injury after a solid freshman season in 2007 in which he rushed for 211 yards. After having work done on his meniscus on the first day of camp last year, he returned in Week 2 and got a few carries, but the next week in practice, he tore his ACL and needed another surgery.

"I actually had knee surgery my sophomore year in high school too," McGraw said. "I said if it happened again, I was done (with football). But the second time having been through it before, I knew what I had to do to get back. It was hard. A lot of hard work to get back and I had people supporting me through it."

McGraw bounced back after surgery to lead the Yellow Jackets with nine rushing touchdowns in 2009 and piled up 486 yards on the ground. He also caught 14 passes.

"I don’t mind it (playing in the slot back)," McGraw said. "I’m getting used to it, but it took some time because I’ve always been a running back. Last year, I was sent in motion, running sweeps and catching bubble passes.

"It was like a glorified running back but teams started to key on that. So in spring ball, I started practicing running wide receiver routes, just to confuse the defense and give them another look. I’m excited to see where I’ll be this season."

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke made an outstanding debut Thursday night, throwing three touchdowns in a 38-14 win over Wooster.

O’Rourke completed 9 of 13 passes for 154 yards, including the three scores in his first game as a Yellow Jacket.

O’Rourke, who transferred to B-W last spring from NCAA Division II Slippery Rock (Pa.) University, threw a 40-yard TD pass to Keith Darbut on the game’s first play and tossed a pair of TD passes to his former Avon and Slippery Rock teammate Brett Jensen of 59 and 19 yards, all in the first half.

Jensen finished with two catches for 78 yards and the two TDs, while North Ridgeville’s John McGraw finished with 65 yards on the ground in 13 carries. Amherst’s Ryan Kish led the defense with nine tackles.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville's John McGraw scored his fifth touchdown of the season, but then went down with an injury in a 21-17 loss to 13th ranked Otterbein on Saturday.

For the season, McGraw has 249 yards on 55 carries (4.4 yards per carry).

Stay tuned for more details on McGraw.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw was named as the Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts during the Yellow Jackets' 34-13 victory over Marietta on Saturday.

McGraw, who earned the Dick Miller B-W Outstanding Player of the Game award, rushed for a career-high 151 yards in 21 attempts, including a 24-yard touchdown.

For the season, McGraw is B-W's leading runner with 221 yards in 37 attempts (6.0 yards per carry) with four TDs. He also is the team's leading receiver with nine catches for 68 yards.

McGraw and the Yellow Jackets travel to Alliance to play Mount Union at Saturday.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw had a college career-high day to lead Baldwin-Wallace over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta College, 34-13 at George Finnie Stadium in Berea, notching its first win of the season today.

McGraw earned the Dick Miller B-W Outstanding Player of the Game award, as he led B-W’s running attack with a career-high 151 yards in 21 attempts, including a 24-yard touchdown run that capped off a 7-play, 91-yard drive to give the Yellow Jackets a 20-6 lead in the second quarter.

On defense, Amherst’s Ryan Kish, a junior outside linebacker, led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles.

With its victory, the B-W is now 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the OAC. Their next game is Saturday at Mount Union.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon Lake’s Trey Stross caught three passes for 61 yards for Iowa as the Hawkeyes escaped with a 17-16 win over Northern Iowa. The game featured back-to-back blocks on two game-winning field goal attempts by Iowa State’s Billy Hallgren to seal the deal.

Elyria’s Danny Noble caught two passes for 18 yards for Toledo, as the Rockets were blasted by Purdue, 52-31 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

On Thursday night, Elyria’s P.J. Mahone and his Bowling Green Falcons took it to the Troy Trojans, winning 31-14 at Hoyt Perry Stadium. Mahone finished with eight tackles.

Also on Thursday, Amherst’s Alex Knipp led Ball State with 13 tackles on defense in its 20-10 loss to North Texas.

In Division II, Lake Erie College won a thriller in overtime, defeating Fairmont State University, 27-24. Brunswick’s Sean Bedevelsky threw the game-winning TD to Mentor’s Brandon James in the front right corner of the endzone in LEC’s home opener played at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium. Midview’s Scott Given was in on eight tackles, while Admiral King’s Cameron Bryant added four.

Notre Dame College of Ohio football will make its football debut on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on Hiram College on Korb Field in Lyndhurst.

In Division III action, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw scored a touchdown in Baldwin-Wallace’s 38-31 loss to Franklin at Berea. McGraw scampered from 9 yards out to score his first TD of the year, which happened to tie the game at 28 in the third quarter. He finished with 24 yards on six carries and he also caught four passes for 44 yards. Amherst’s Ryan Kish recorded a game-high 11 tackles on defense. Avon Lake’s Scott Nealon punted twice, averaging 42 yards a punt.

Midview’s Bobby Bott, a Division III All-American last season, helped 16th-ranked Case Western Reserve University get off to a good start, defeating Kenyon College, 33-21. The Spartans win is their 22nd straight regular-season victory and their eighth-straight season opening win. Bott recorded six tackles on defense and also returned a punt for eight yards.

Oberlin College lost to Washington and Jefferson, 35-9 in their opener. Amherst’s Shawn Chrapczynski recorded five tackles. Wellington’s Cory Kidd caught one pass for four yards and also punted eight times. Three of his punts were inside the 20-yard line.

swalker@MorningJournal.com