TIFFIN – On Halloween, a monstrous defensive effort by the Heidelberg University football team paved the way for a 44-0 drubbing of Wilmington College on Saturday. Aided by seven Quaker turnovers, the Student Princes earned their first shutout since 2012.
With the win, Heidelberg (4-4, 4-3 OAC) moved to .500 for the first time this season. Wilmington (1-7, 1-6 OAC) dropped their 28th-straight conference game, dating back to 2012.
KEY STATS
Heidelberg outgained Wilmington 508-222 ... Heidelberg scored 22 points off of Quaker turnovers ... HU quarterback Tyler Stoyle was 27-for-47 for 350 yards, five touchdowns and an interception ... All five Heidelberg interceptions came on consecutive Quaker possessions in the second half.
FIRST QUARTER
Heidelberg moved the ball well on its first two drives, but did not score on either possession. After the HU offense fumbled inside its five, the defense went to work. Ethan Rodgers stripped the ball away from Chase Manica in the end zone and Clay Staib pounced on it for a touchdown. Holder Jarrett Wasson took the snap on the point after and ran it into the end zone for a two-point conversion.
SECOND QUARTER
A muffed punt gave Heidelberg a short field early in the second. A 15-yard rush by Bryan Lacey and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Stoyle to Braden Jerome gave Heidelberg a 15-0 lead. Lacey finished with a game-high 127 yards on the ground, but was held out of the end zone for just the second time this season.
Near the end of the period, the Heidelberg offense seemed to find its groove. With 1:16 left, Stoyle found Zach Hogya wide open for a touchdown, which capped a nine-play 74-yard drive. Again, Wasson punched the ball in for a two-point conversion.
A Quaker three-and-out sandwiched around a pair of HU timeouts gave the ball back to the home team with 44 seconds at their own 38. With the aid of a timeout, the Student Princes marched down the field in five plays. With six seconds left and the ball on the Wilmington 25, Stoyle connected with Demetrius Magee for a touchdown as the gun sounded. Magee deftly got a foot inbounds before his momentum carried him into the sideline. Stephen Smith added the PAT, which gave Heidelberg a 30-0 lead at intermission.
THIRD QUARTER
Stoyle and Jerome hooked up for their second touchdown of the game early in the third. The 25-yard strike pushed the lead to 37-0.
On the ensuing Quaker possession, Malik Dudley snared his first collegiate interception and returned it 17 yards down to the Wilmington 4. The next play was a four-yard connection from Stoyle to Hogya. Their second touchdown of the game, followed by another Smith kick, rounded out the scoring for Heidelberg. Hogya finished with eight catches for 79 yards and two scores.
With the game well in hand, the Heidelberg defense fought to keep the zero on the board. Wasson and Will Lance grabbed interceptions on the next two Quaker possessions, part of a string of five straight.
FOURTH QUARTER
The pick-party continued in the fourth, with Justin Hutchins leaping to pull one down, just inside the Heidelberg end zone.
Three plays after Stoyle threw an interception, Scott Gwisdalla returned the favor with his second of the season.
Late in the game, Smith knocked a perfect 50-yard punt, which bounced out-of-bounds at the Quaker 2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Heidelberg has shut out its opponents 202 times in program history. The last came in a 21-0 win against #25 Otterbein in 2012.
Staib's touchdown was the second of his career. He returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown at John Carroll last year.
The five interceptions tied their season high. HU recorded five INTs at Muskingum in Week Five.
A total of 12 different Student Princes have recorded an interception this season, the most since 2012
With 20 touchdown passes on the year, Stoyle sits tied for sixth on the single season record list. Andrew Miller had 20 in 2008. Michael Mees holds the record with 28 TD passes a year ago.
In program history, Berg quarterbacks have thrown for five touchdowns or more a total of eight times in 1,030 games. Three of those games have been by Stoyle in the past five games.
QUOTES
Head coach Mike Hallett on the performance of the defensive effort: "We are very pleased with the outstanding effort defensively ... Scoring a touchdown and creating multiple turnovers were great things to see."
Hallett on his offense's ability to work out of a slow start: "We moved the ball well but had a stop on fourth down and a turnover in the red zone that stalled us out ... Once Bryan Lacey got going, we saw them load the box ... I thought Tyler did a good job exposing coverage issues for us. "
UP NEXT
Heidelberg hosts Capital University (2-6, 2-5 OAC) on Senior Day next Saturday. Gametime with the Crusaders is at 1:30 p.m.