WESTERVILLE -- For a program-best sixth consecutive year, the No. 24 Heidelberg University football team secured rights to the Rhine River Cup. On a glistening Saturday in Central Ohio, the Student Princes beat Otterbein University, 34-7.
Prior to the contest, Heidelberg and Otterbein commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Rhine River Cup game, when the two schools played to a 7-7 draw in the first collegiate football game on German soil in 1992.
The 'Berg defense was dominant once again, limiting the Cardinals to 238 yards of total offense. Otterbein mustered a mere 39 yards on the ground. Zach Blackiston recorded two sacks on the afternoon.
HU quarterback
Drew Sims threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns on 24-of-32 passing. Senior wideout
Dimitri Penick had 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Tight end
Devon Conyer had a breakout performance, hauling in six passes for 92 yards and a touchdown.
On their second drive of the game, Heidelberg went 67 yards in nine plays for the first touchdown of the game. Sims found Penick on 2nd-and-goal from the four for the score.
Branden Steckel added the extra point.
In the second quarter, HU scored on back-to-back drives. After the defense forced a turnover on downs, The Berg enjoyed a six-play, 58-yard drive. Conyer notched his first collegiate touchdown -- a 30-yard pass from Sims.
HU hit another home run on the next drive.
Montavious Yearby caught a pass out of the backfield and scampered 37 yards to paydirt. The Student Princes led 21-0 at halftime.
Otterbein scored their only touchdown of the game to open the third. Eason Hardouin found Armani Burton for a 39-yard touchdown.
The Student Princes responded with a big return out near midfield by
Brandon Reed. The drive would culminate in a 28-yard field goal by Steckel.
On the ensuing Cardinal drive,
Key Cunningham picked off a Hardouin pass at midfield and returned it to the Otterbein 40. Again, Steckel capped the drive -- this time from 33 yards out.
Ahead 27-7 in the fourth, Heidelberg was in cruise control. The Tricolor capped the scoring with a methodical 11-play, 57-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock. On 3rd-and-goal, Sims hit Penick again for a six-yard score.
Heidelberg has won 11 of the last 12 games in the Rhine River Cup series, with their last loss coming in 2016.
The Student Princes return home next Saturday to host Ohio Northern. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Prior to the game, HU will honor its newest Hall of Fame induction class -- Greg Tyson, Joe Pflug, Judi Bataille and Nate Davis.
