Gators Drop Tough Opener to Baldwin-Wallace 27-14

Sep 4, 2004

Boxscore

Photogallery by Ed Mailliard

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Despite nearly 300 yards of total offense from sophomore quarterback Jimmy Savage (North Canton, Ohio/ Hoover), the Allegheny College football team dropped a 27-14 decision today to visiting Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) College in the season opener for both teams.

After the two teams swapped possession early, Allegheny’s offense went on the move, reaching the Yellow Jacket 34 before facing a fourth and one. The Baldwin-Wallace defense held tight on the ensuing running play and took possession. Three plays later, and after an Allegheny personal foul, B-W running back Brandon Hedges broke off a 38-yard touchdown run to put the visitors ahead 7-0.

Allegheny continued to move the ball on its next possession. Savage hit senior wideout Casey Devlin (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Chartiers Valley) for a 36-yard strike to get the Gators into Yellow Jacket territory. After stalling out inside the 20, freshman kicker Jason Davis (Warren, Ohio/ Champion) pushed a 33-yard field goal wide right.

Baldwin-Wallace took advantage and got its offense rolling to get a second score on the board. The Yellow Jackets moved 80 yards in 15 plays, with the drive ending when B-W QB Mike DiAngelo scrambled out of the pocket and found tight end Nate Wilder in the corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown.

The Gators scored their first touchdown of the new campaign very, very late in the first half. After B-W failed on a fourth down at Allegheny’s 37, Savage went to work. After hitting Devlin for 16 yards, he scrambled for 12 more to the Yellow Jacket 35 with just five ticks left before halftime. On the final play of the half, Savage’s Hail Mary was hauled in by sophomore wide receiver Dallas Robinson (Wooster, Ohio/ Northwestern) for a 35-yard score and after Black knocked home the extra point, the Gator deficit was just 14-7 at the break.

Both teams missed chances to put points on the board in the third quarter. B-W missed a 23-yard field goal on its second possession of the half, while Allegheny had a 12-play, 69-yard drive halted when it could not convert on a fourth and two. That proved to be a big storyline in this game, as the Gators went just 1-5 on fourth down conversions.

However, it appeared the Yellow Jackets would give the opportunity right back to Allegheny. On the second play after getting the ball back, B-W’s Hedges fumbled and Gator defensive end John Brady recovered at the Jacket 26 to put the hosts in prime field position to tie the game.

And it appeared the Gators would take advantage, as on a third and one, sophomore running back Mario Tarquinio (Charleroi, Pa.) gained 10 yards to the B-W seven-yard line. But a holding penalty nullified the play and after a false start, Allegheny was pushed back to the 27 and would eventually punt.

Baldwin-Wallace took advantage to put a big score on the board, as B-W drove 80 yards in 11 plays. Hedges, who ran for 156 yards on 21 carries in the game, found the end zone for the second time on a 16-yard scoring jaunt to push the Yellow Jacket lead to 21-7.

But the Gators didn’t quit in this one. Late in the game, the Allegheny offense took advantage of a short field to go 42 yards in nine plays. Savage ran into the end zone from three yards out to bring the Gators within a score at 21-14 with 1:40 to play.

That would be as close to completing the comeback as Allegheny would get. The ensuing onside kick was picked up by Wilder, who ran 14 yards to the Gator 28. On the next play, Hedges broke a couple tackles and found the end zone for the third time, a 28-yard run that put the game out of the reach and sent the Gators to their seventh consecutive loss in season openers.

As previously mentioned, Allegheny’s inability to convert on fourth downs was key but so was Baldwin-Wallace’s third-down conversion rate. The Yellow Jackets converted 10 of 16 third down situations and also committed just four penalties for 25 yards, while Allegheny committed seven penalties for 60 yards.

In his first collegiate game under center, Savage was outstanding. On the ground he was the Gators leading rusher with 92 yards and a score on 16 carries. Through the air, he was 17-31 for 195 yards and a touchdown, as he was responsible for 288 of Allegheny’s 368 total yards.

Tarquinio had a productive day carrying the football, totaling 53 yards on 15 carries. Devlin led all receivers with four receptions for 60 yards. Defensively, sophomore defensive back Dave Gillen (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Baldwin) led the team with seven tackles, while junior linebacker Vincent Werner (Sheffield, Pa.) and junior defensive back Keith Keenan (Bloomingdale, Ohio/ Indian Creek) each made six stops. Keenan also recorded a sack and broke up a pass.

Outside of Hedges’ heroics carrying the ball, DiAngelo had a solid day throwing the ball, going 17 of 29 for 170 yards. His top target was Wilder, who grabbed four passes for 45 yards and the score.

Allegheny returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Westminster (Pa.) College for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Titans nipped the Gators 3-0 in overtime last year.

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