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Ohio Wesleyan 55, Denison 24 (10/13/2001)

The Ohio Wesleyan offense scored on its first 6 possessions on the way to a 41-0 second-quarter lead and the Battling Bishop defense rang up a school-record 15 sacks as Ohio Wesleyan defeated Denison in North Coast Athletic Conference action on Saturday at Selby Field.

Senior tailback Matt Capone (Cleveland/Padua) scored twice in the Bishop first-half run, going over from 1 yard out to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive on Ohio Wesleyan's first possession of the game and scoring from 2 yards out midway through the second quarter.

After Capone gave the Bishops a 7-0 lead, Ohio Wesleyan took over on the Denison 24 after a shanked Big Red punt. Three plays later, junior halfback Jason Osborne (Oak Harbor) scored on a 17-yard run for a 14-0 Bishop lead.

Sophomore halfback Chad Smith (Prospect/Elgin) capped the first-quarter scoring with a 3-yard run that finished off a 6-play, 42-yard drive.

Freshman quarterback Jeff Hanna (Wadsworth) fired a 20-yard TD pass to junior split end Harold Dale (Huber Heights/Wayne), Capone scored on a 2-yard run and junior halfback Bernie Vendlinski (Brunswick/Highland) went over from 6 yards out to hike the lead to 41-0 with 2:03 left in the first half.

Denison quarterback Greg Neuendorf assembled a drive in the closing minutes of the first half and got the Big Red on the scoreboard with :38 to play, finding wide receiver David Trace on a 15-yard scoring play. Neuendorf threw 3 touchdown passes in the second half, with the Big Red scoring on passes of 27 yards to Jay Watt, 70 yards to Josh Jirgens and 1 yard to Ryan Hite.

Smith scored on a 5-yard run for Ohio Wesleyan in the third quarter and senior halfback Jonas Nash (New Orleans, La./Clark) wrapped up the Ohio Wesleyan scoring with an unusual play in the fourth quarter. With Nash carrying around right end, the ball popped free but bounced right back to Nash, who gathered in the ball and continued unharried down the right sideline for a 52-yard scoring play.

Capone led the Bishops with 141 yards in 21 rushes. Senior quarterback Mike Jonesco (Oberlin/Elyria Catholic) completed 5 of 8 passes for 70 yards and Hanna was 5-for-5 for 76 yards. Senior split end Joe Clinton (Farmington Hills, Mich./U. Detroit Jesuit) led the Bishops with 3 catches for 57 yards.

Neuendorf completed 22 of 37 passes for 365 yards and 4 touchdowns and had 2 passes intercepted.

Ohio Wesleyan's defense held Denison to minus 66 yards rushing, just missing the NCAC record of minus 70 set by Ohio Wesleyan against Oberlin in 1999. The 15 sacks amassed by the Bishops broke the school record of 10 accomplished 3 times previously -- against Capital in 1981, against Wooster in 1991 and last week at Earlham.

Senior tackle Steve Schoenberger (West Carrollton) led the Bishops with 4 1/2 sacks, while sophomore end Corey Krieger (Oak Harbor) had 3 sacks and sophomore end Travis Little (Wheelersburg) and sophomore linebacker Billy Chrisovergis (Dayton/Bellbrook) had 2 sacks each. Junior cornerback Steve Siefert (Sylvania/Northview) led the Bishops with 8 tackles, while Chrisovergis finished with 6 stops, including 3 tackles for loss.