BEREA, Ohio -- In their final road game of the 2023 season, the Heidelberg University Football Team fell short in a 24-21 loss at Baldwin Wallace. The loss extended HU's string of strange, disappointing losses at the hands of the Yellow Jackets to six.
Heidelberg slipped to 5-4 overall, 4-4 in OAC action.
Down 7-0 after BW scored on the opening drive of the game, Heidelberg responded in short order.
Montavious Yearby took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and ran around the left side of the line. Two downfield blocks allowed him to sprint 74 yards for the score.
Branden Steckel added the extra point.
Following a BW touchdown on their next possession, Heidelberg answered in stunning fashion. Yearby, running straight ahead this time, broke two tackles on a 62-yard touchdown rush on the opening play of the drive -- tying the game.
Two drives later, the Student Princes converted on three third downs during a 13-play, 61-yard touchdown drive. A two-yard touchdown rush by quarterback
Lance Rickle, coupled with a Steckel PAT, gave HU a 21-14 lead.
The next two drives for both teams came to premature ends with turnovers. The 'Berg defense forced two fumbles -- one forced by
Owen Gibbs, the other by
Kingston Mabatah. BW picked off a pair of passes -- both in the red zone. HU led 21-14 at half.
Griffin Pendry, who averaged 40.6 yards on five punts, picked off a Yellow Jackets pass at 'Berg 20 yard line. Both teams were scoreless in the third.
After tying the game early in the fourth, BW went on a 14-play drive that covered 74 yards and took 6:45 off the clock. Converting on three third downs, BW took the lead with a 27-yard field goal.
Despite a frantic conversion on 4th-and-6, HU's last-ditch effort to get into Steckel's range ended in an interception on a deflected ball.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Rickle was 10-for-22 for 11 yards and three interceptions in his second start. The freshman rushed for 52 yards and a score … Yearby finished with 171 yards and two scores … Eight 'Berg players had tackles for loss.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
Yearby's first touchdown was the first time HU scored on its opening play since Bryan Lacey scored on a 58-yard rush in a 27-24 win over Muskingum in 2016 … The 171-yard output was most by a 'Berg rusher in Berea since Cartel Brooks's NCAA All-Divisions record 465 yard explosion in 2013 …. Heidelberg has had a 100+ yard rusher in each trip to Berea since the Brooks game (Brooks 465 in 2013, Lacey 182 in 2015, Cameron Vocke 108 in 2017, Jace Grossman 103 in 2019, Yearby 120 in 2021 and 171 in 2023)
UP NEXT:
Heidelberg closes out the season with Senior Day and Veterans Appreciation Day next week. Capital visits Hoernemann Stadium for a 1:30 p.m. kick.
