The football team improved to 2-0 on the year after their victory over the Quakers of Wilmington last Saturday. The Crusaders took advantage of the five turnovers from the Quakers en route to a 34-21 victory.
Capital jumped on the board early when Joe Rodriguez, freshman, intercepted a Quaker pass and returned it 93 yards for the score. The Quakers responded with a touchdown by way of quarterback Brandon Mitchell to make it 7-7.
After relying on the defense to score first, the Crusaders turned to their triple option to carve up the Quaker defense. Quarterback Chase Longwell answered by leading the Crusaders on a 51-yard drive finishing with a touchdown; however, Longwell had his day cut short in the second quarter. As Longwell was attempting a pass, a member of Wilmington’s defense took a late shot on the starting quarterback and shot caller of the Crusader offense.
The result was a 15-yard roughing the passer call on Wilmington, but Longwell was taken into the locker room and didn’t return. He was replaced by Nick Iske, freshman, who has had experience with the triple option during his time at Hilliard Davidson High School.
With Longwell out of the game, Iske relied heavily on sophomore back Brent Walton. Walton carried the Crusader offense with 222 yards rushing, which included a 98-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the first half to give Capital the 21-14 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, the Crusader defense took a stand against the Quaker offense. They were able to force and recover three fumbles in the second half after already forcing two turnovers in the first half. These turnovers made it tough for Wilmington and their spread offense to gain any momentum on offense throughout the half. Their only scoring drive occurred with just 16 seconds on the clock when the game was out of reach, in favor of Capital.
The turnovers also allowed the Crusaders to control the tempo of the half, taking advantage of a Wilmington defense that was on the field for the majority of the second half. To continue their early season success, the Crusaders must continue their high-powered offensive attack. This may be challenging with the injury to Longwell, but Iske proved that he could carry the load for the remaining time Longwell is sidelined.
A high-powered offense mixed with an opportunistic defensive that has forced five turnovers and scored twice in this young season is a recipe for success in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Coming off two victories against teams with a combined record of 2-21 in the past two years, the Crusaders take on Muskingum next weekend.
The Muskies are 0-2 on the season after falling to Mount Union 62-6 last Saturday. With a win against the Muskies, Capital will match their win total from the 2013 season and would be carrying a three-game win-streak into Bernlohr stadium when they face Mount Union.
