FULL GAME NOTES

AFTER WEEK ONE ...
The Heidelberg University football team returned to the gridiron for the 2019 season in resounding fashion as they thumped the Adrian College Bulldogs 57-7 this past Saturday. The win marked the third straight year they won on opening day.

The Student Princes were led by the red-hot Jimmy Gephart who connected on 25-of-35 pass attempts, good for 325 yards and a whopping six touchdowns. Keivon Belcher hauled in eight receptions for 103 yards and three first quarter touchdowns. Maceo Matthews was responsible for seven catches for 99 yards and two scores. Dimitri Penick accounted for the other receiving touchdown on one of his four receptions.

The Berg special teams also put up an excellent performance as freshman Tayy Yearby returned a kickoff 87 yards for a score, Matt Davenport blocked a field goal, Brandon Reed blocked a punt, and the punt defense was credited with a team safety. Yearby also punched in a touchdown on a two-yard run.

Most promising for the Heidelberg offense was a new program record of 36 first downs.

On the defensive end of the football, Tramon Wiley secured two interceptions and Tyler Matuszak had three tackles for loss.

Wilmington is coming off a week one loss to Olivet College. A two-touchdown fourth quarter for the Comets proved the difference in a narrow 20-17 defeat for the Quakers. At quarterback, Kyle Barrett connected on 18-of-28 for 212 yard and a touchdown. On the ground, Barrett rushed 10 times for a net of 1 yard and another touchdown. Ace Taylor recorded eight receptions for 75 yards and a score. The Quaker defense did recover two fumbles on the day and were led by Taivon Bryant who had 11 tackles.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
On opening weekend, six of the ten OAC teams emerged victorious.

Baldwin Wallace beat Alma 31-14. A.J. Miller threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns, while Iyan Mithcell and Anthony Kendall each picked off a pass for the Yellow Jacket defense.

Muskingum defeated Waynesburg 31-20 behind the returning leadership of Brody Hahn. Hahn threw for 179 yards and rushed for 93 more. The dual-threat QB was responsible for four touchdowns on the day.

John Carroll brushed aside Wisconsin-Stevens Point 21-7. The Blue Streaks kept the ball on the ground as four players rushed for 20 or more yards, led by Michael Canganelli's 54 yards.

Marietta shutout Hiram 41-0. Quarterback Kyle McSweeney threw for 217 yards and four touchdowns, while Tanner Clark rushed for 116 yards and a score.

Mount Union was the other conference team with a win after they defeated Rose Hulman 66-14. D'Angelo Fulford threw for 288 yards and six touchdowns, including four to Justin Hill.

Wilmington, Capital, Ohio Northern, and Otterbein all suffered week one defeats in their non-conference openers.

In week two, Mount Union and John Carroll take their bye weeks, while the other eight schools begin OAC action. Wilmington visits Heidelberg, Ohio Northern travels to Muskingum, Otterbein hosts Baldwin Wallace, and Capital plays host to Marietta.

JIMMY NEUTRON
• Senior QB Jimmy Gephart has two fantastic starts under his belt
• Gephart earned OAC Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for 330y and 6td in the romp of Adrian

CURB YOUR MATTHEWS-IASM
• Junior WR Maceo Matthews had his second straight multi-touchdown day
• In last two games, Matthews has 294y and five TD grabs

RICK AND SHORT-Y
• Junior RB Branden Short picked up his second career 100+yd game with his 113y performance
• Short's first career 100-yard game came in 2018 against Wilmington

TAYY'S ANATOMY
• Freshman RB/KR Tayy Yearby had a memorable debut
• The Florida native had an 87-yard kick return for a touchdown and racked up 76 yards rushing and a TD with the reserves

BLACK•is-TON
• Sophomore DL/LB Zach Blackiston had one sack against the Bulldogs
• Blackiston has a sack in eight of his 11 games in college

EVERYBODY LOVES TRAMON
• CB Tramon Wiley -- who switched over to defense this summer -- showed off his receiving skills
• Wiley picked off two passes in the win at Adrian
• Was named Heidelberg's Athlete of the Week for his accomplishments

DAVENPORT-LANDIA
• DL Matt Davenport blocked a field goal attempt at Adrian
• Davenport has four career blocked kicks, the most on the team

KEIVON & PEELE
• WR Keivon Belcher, who missed the back half of 2018 with an injury, returned with a vengeance on Saturday
• Belcher had a career-high three TD grabs

THE THREE STOOGES
• There is a lot of familiarity between the coaching staffs on WC and HU
• Wilmington Head Coach Bryan Moore, Defensive Coordinator Corey Fillipovich and Offensive Coordinator Matt Byrne all coached at Heidelberg and have a great relationship with the Berg staff

LAST TIME vs. WILMINGTON
• Heidelberg battered the Quakers to get back into win column, 44-13
• QB Trace Reynolds was an efficient 19-of-22 passing for 265y & 3TD
• WR Braden Jerome sets career highs with 9 recs for 142y
• RB Branden Short (139y on 18c) surpasses 100y mark for first time
• DL Zach Blackiston extends sack streak to four games

STAY CONNECTED
• Catch The Scott Donaldson Show on the Thursday before each game of the season -- live at Berg Bistro 1850 and on WTTF AM-1600 and 93.3 FM
• Coach Donaldson was the first guest on the new web series, Coaches on Campus Getting Coffee
• The web series an be seen at Youtube.com/BergSportsInfo
• Follow us on Twitter: @BergAthletics @BergFootball