OWU Online | Sports Releases

Ohio Wesleyan 51, Allegheny 47 (11/10/2001)

Senior split end Joe Clinton (Farmington Hills, Mich./U. Detroit Jesuit) broke loose on a 61-yard punt return to put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay, senior tailback Matt Capone (Cleveland/Padua) added an insurance score with a 2-yard touchdown run and the Bishops held on to take a nailbiter from the Gators in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday at Selby Field.

The win hikes the Bishops' record to 9-1, tying the school record for wins in a season. The 98 points by both teams was a school record, topping the combined total of 86 set in a 56-30 loss to Mount Union in 1969.

Ohio Wesleyan wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard, taking the opening kickoff and driving 75 yards in 7 plays. Sophomore sophomore halfback Chad Smith (Prospect/Elgin) hauled in a pass from senior quarterback Mike Jonesco (Oberlin/Elyria Catholic) and turned it into a 29-yard scoring play to cap the scoring drive.

Allegheny countered with a 71-yard, 8-play drive, tying the score at 7-7 on a 32-yard pass from Bubba Smith to Brian Woods.

The Gators then turned things over to tailback Shane Ream. Ream scored on the first play of Allegheny's next possession, going over from 20 yards out after Woods had given the Gators excellent field position with a punt return.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with an 80-yard bomb from Jonesco to Clinton, but senior Brian Leach (Xenia) missed the point after try to leave Allegheny ahead, 14-13.

Ream then scored on runs of 2 and 10 yards as Allegheny took a 28-13 lead with 13:28 left in the first half.

But once again, Ohio Wesleyan struck quickly as Jonesco and Clinton hooked up on a 55-yard pass play. Jonesco's pass for a 2-point conversion was incomplete, and Ohio Wesleyan trailed, 28-19, with 13:06 left in the first half.

Allegheny answered with its longest possession of the day, consuming 4:11 during a 73-yard, 13-play march that ended with a 17-yard burst by Tim Carl that gave the Gators a 35-19 lead with 8:55 left in the first half.

Ohio Wesleyan came back with a march of its own, with Capone going over from 2 yards out and Jonesco scoring on a 2-point conversion run to pull the Bishops within 35-27 with 4:35 left in the half, and after the Bishops held the Gators on their next possession, Ohio Wesleyan drove 57 yards to a first down at the Allegheny 10 before setting for a 24-yard Leach field goal with :23 left in the first half, making the halftime score 35-30 in favor of the Gators.

As in the first half, Allegheny scored on its first possession of the second half, with Smith calling his own number and scoring on a 9-yard quarterback draw to hike the lead to 41-30. Aaron Polack missed the point after try from 35 yards out after a Gator personal foul after the touchdown.

Once again, Ohio Wesleyan counterattacked and the Bishops seemed to have pulled closer when Clinton took a pass from Jonesco and broke loose on an apparent 51-yard scoring play. But Clinton was headed off by a Gator defender, and in an effort to get the ball over the plane of the goal line, he lost control of the ball and Allegheny recovered in its own end zone to end the threat.

The teams traded punts twice before the Bishops put together another drive, but that march also ended on a turnover at the Gator 26-yard line.

Jonesco and Clinton hooked up for the third time early in the fourth quarter, this time on an 8-yard scoring play that finished off an 88-yard, 8-play drive. It was Jonesco's fourth TD pass of the game, tying the school record set 8 times before, including once by Jonesco earlier this season. Jonesco found Clinton on a 2-point conversion pass, and the deficit was 41-38 with 14:11 left in regulation time.

The Bishop defense then made its presence felt. With Allegheny driving and threatening to pad its lead, Ohio Wesleyan stiffened and soon the Gators faced a fourth-and-4 call from the Bishop 36-yard line. The call went to Ream, who took an inside handoff and met senior tackle Steve Schoenberger (West Carrollton) and sophomore linebacker Billy Chrisovergis (Dayton/Bellbrook). When the dust had cleared and the chains were brought out, Allegheny was inches short of the first down and the Bishops took over.

Ohio Wesleyan was not able to capitalize on the momentum shift and punted the ball away, but the Gators weren't able to move either, losing 6 yards on a bad pitch by Smith and then seeing a third-down pass fall incomplete before punting.

Clinton fielded the ball at the Bishop 39, broke up the middle and then cut outside and beat the traffic to the goal line, giving Ohio Wesleyan the lead at 44-41 with 8:13 left in regulation time. The possibility of overtime still existed, though, as Leach's extra point attempt was wide.

Fired up by the momentum change, the Bishop defense dropped Smith for losses on successive plays and the Gators had to punt once again, giving Ohio Wesleyan the ball on its own 37. The Bishops converted on a pair of third-down plays, moving to a first down at the Allegheny 31, but it was time for the Gator defense to make a stand. Capone was stopped for no gain on first down and junior halfback Bernie Vendlinski (Brunswick/Highland) was dropped for a 4-yard loss on second down. Jonesco tried to find Clinton on third down, but the pass fell incomplete.

Freshman punter Brett Schumacher (South Euclid/Gilmour Academy) then came on to pin the Gators in their own territory and got off a picture-perfect coffin corner kick that rolled out of bounds at the Allegheny 1 with 2:57 in regulation time.

Passing from his own end zone, Smith was flushed out of the pocket and his pass was picked off by senior cornerback Jason Martin (Columbus/Westerville North), who returned the ball to the Gator 2. Capone went over on the first play and Leach's point after hiked the Bishop lead to a more comfortable 51-41 with 2:33 left in regulation.

That comfort zone lasted all of 34 seconds. Smith hit Woods for 33 yards on a post pattern, then found Jon Turner down the left sideline for 34 yards and a Gator touchdown with 1:59 left. Polack came on to kick the extra point, but his kick was blocked. Junior linebacker Chad Marlatt (Coshocton/Ridgewood) picked up the ball in the end zone, broke out of the pack, picked up a couple of blocks down the left sideline and was off to the races for what seemed to be the first defensive extra point in Ohio Wesleyan history and a truly fitting end to a game which had fans of both teams proclaiming that they had seen everything. But it was not to be. A holding penalty on Ohio Wesleyan behind the play nullified Marlatt's return, leaving the score at 51-47 with 1:59 to play.

The Gators had successfully executed an onside kick earlier in the game, and looked to do so again, but this time Bishop linebacker Shaun Ramos (Cumberland, R.I./St. Raphael Academy) covered the ball. Ohio Wesleyan got a pair of first downs on runs of 19 and 17 yards by Capone, setting up a first-and-goal from the Allegheny 8, and the Bishops were able to run out the clock.

Jonesco completed 17 of 30 passes for 417 yards, the second-highest single-game figure in Ohio Wesleyan history. He also rushed for 41 yards, and his 458 yards in total offense broke the school record of 414 set by Mike Wallace against Denison in 1981.

Clinton caught 8 passes for 248 yards, the third-highest single-game figure in Bishop history. He was the first Bishop to catch 3 TD passes in a game since Matt Apel did so in 1994 and the first Ohio Wesleyan player to score 4 TDs in a game since Capone did it in 1997. Clinton totaled 310 all-purpose yards in the game.

Capone led the Bishops with 141 yards in 27 carries and scored 2 touchdowns. He finished the season with school-record figures of 1368 yards and 15 touchdowns. Capone also caught 3 passes for 58 yards.

Smith completed 14 of 31 passes for 261 yards and 2 TDs for Allegheny. Five of those passes went to Turner for 71 yards and a TD, while Woods caught 4 passes for 119 yards and a score. Ream led the Gators with 154 yards in 30 rushes, with 3 touchdowns.

Defensive standouts included junior linebacker Chad Marlatt (Coshocton/Ridgewood), who led the Bishops with 14 tackles, including 1 for loss; sophomore linebacker Billy Chrisovergis (Dayton/Bellbrook), whose 12 stops included 3 for loss; senior safety Matt Lavish (Bay Village/Bay), who had 11 tackles, including a sack; and sophomore safety Travis Finch (Wayland, Mass.), who made 10 tackles.