Release written and posted by Wesley College Sports Information
CANTON, Ohio - Wesley College limited Walsh to just 176 yards as the seventh ranked Wolverines defeated the Cavaliers 28-3 at Fawcett Stadium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Wesley was playing the game without Associate Head Coach Chip Knapp, whose 16 year old son Ben, went into cardiac arrest on Friday morning. The Knapp family is staying with Ben at the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. The Wolverines dedicated the game to Ben and stopped at the hospital to present him with the game ball.
Walsh took an early lead on a 25-yard field goal by Bo Beegle that capped an 11-play drive midway through the fourth quarter. That proved to be all the scoring the Wesley defense would allow, however, as the defense limited the Cavaliers to only 118 more yards the entire afternoon.
The Wolverines answered back with a 14-play, 82-yard drive that ate six and a half minutes of game clock. Wesley took a 7-3 lead on an eight-yard strike from Shane McSweeny (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) to Sean McAndrew (Lanoka Harbor, N.J./Lacey Township) with 11:55 to go in the half.
That score stood until the third quarter, when a 47-yard punt return by Sean Hopkins (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Central) set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Askia Jahad (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) for a 14-3 lead with 9:28 to go in the third quarter.
Later in the period, a 36-yard pass from McSweeny to Matt Barile (Bel Air, Md./Fallston) gained the bulk of the yardage on a 69-yard drive that ended on a one-yard plunge by the Wesley quarterback for a 21-3 advantage with 3:33 remaining in the third period.
Wesley capped the scoring in the fourth quarter when Dakevis Howard (Wilmington, Del./Concord) intercepted Jim Shiplett and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.
Jahad turned in his third 100-yard rushing game with 106 yards on 16 carries.
McSweeny went 14-of-21 for 174 yards and a touchdown. He completed passes to seven different players, including six who caught at least two passes. McAndrew had three receptions for 32 yards, while Brandon Robinson (Ocean Twp., N.J./Ocean Twp.) had two for 34 yards.
Devin Hardy (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) led the defense with seven tackles. Howard had five tackles and two interceptions. Chris Mayes (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) had a forced fumble and a sack.
Wesley limited Shiplett to just 6-of-20 passing for 56 yards and a pair of interceptions. While Walsh did pile up 111 yards rushing, it took 36 attempts, an average of just 3.1 per carry. Justin Keith rushed 20 times for 64 yards.
Cameron Trudell made 10 tackles for the Cavaliers.
The Wolverines host Salisbury in the Route 13 Rivalry at Scott D. Miller Stadium on October 29 at 1:00 PM.
