Despite slow start, Baldwin Wallace cruises to 42-0 opening day victory over Defiance

*Written by Brandon Soeder-Penner*

Berea- It was a tale of two yellow jackets on Thursday night, as Baldwin Wallace University dominated nearly every aspect of a 42-0 blowout of Defiance College. The night was highlighted by junior running back Austin Smith, who was responsible for three of the team’s five rushing touchdowns. Smith also led the game with 91 rushing yards, and averaged 3.8 yards per carry in BW’s run heavy offence. Smith is also the team’s punter, and managed to pin Defiance behind their own 20 yard line twice.

BW’s receivers also left their mark on the game, as each of the four averaged 14 yards per catch or more, good for 190 yards total. Freshman wide out DaJuan Glover snagged the lone receiving TD off of a short screen pass and two sharp inside moves to elude the Defiance defenders. The defense as a whole put together a great performance from beginning to end, holding Defiance to zero points and forcing eight 3-and-outs in 14 drives.

Junior defensive tackle Anton Richardson and safety Trypp Washington led the way, each recording three tackles and a forced fumble. Senior defensive end Andy Schultz also made his presence known, dialing up two tackles including a late game sack.

The only starter for Baldwin Wallace that struggled at all was quarter back Robbie Plagens, who threw two interceptions in first quarter and one more early in the fourth.

Plagens seemed to struggle with throwing the deep ball, but was incredibly accurate and efficient with his short passes. Despite the turnovers, the senior QB still went 12-21 on pass attempts, throwing for 190 yards and touchdown.

Defiance struggled to get anything going, but did still show some signs of life. RB/WR Lamar Dixon showed to be a versatile offensive weapon, picking up 49 yards on the ground against a tough BW run defense. Dixon also grabbed two catches for 14 yards, and kept the defense on their feet by regularly switching between heading the backfield and lining up wide for a pass.

By far the best performance for Defiance came from safety Markell Moncrief, who went up for two red-zone interceptions and six tackles. Moncrief nearly had a third pick in the middle of the third quarter, but landed just out of bounds after coming up with the grab.

Overall though, it was not a good day for Defiance College. The team averaged just 2.8 gained per-play, and did not break into the red-zone for the entirety of the game. The offence also gained only 183 yards of total offence, compared to 324 yards for BW.

Baldwin Wallace has some time to savor the win and they enter a bye week. However, they face a tough stretch upcoming with a road game against cross-town rival John Carroll University, and their next home match up against the defending national champion Mount Union Purple Raiders on September 24th.

The road will only get tougher from here but the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets started hot and look to keep that momentum for the remainder of the season.