Olivet rallies to beat Wilmington, 20-17, in season-opener

More news about: Olivet

WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Olivet College football team came-from-behind to beat Wilmington (Ohio) College, 20-17, this evening in its season-opener at Williams Stadium in Wilmington, Ohio.

THE BASICS

Final score: Olivet 20, Wilmington 17
Location: William Stadium; Wilmington, Ohio
Records: Olivet 1-0, Wilmington 0-1

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After forcing Olivet to a three-and-out on its first drive, the Quakers put together a 12-play, 90-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead at the 8:23 mark. The drive ended on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kyle Barrett.
  • There was no more scoring until around the mid-point of the second quarter when Tyler Butcher nailed a 39-yard field goal to put Wilmington ahead 10-0.
  • On their final possession of the first half, the Comets strung together 12 plays and covered 70 yards to make the score 10-6. Freshman Kaleb Jarrett capped the drive with a 1-yard run into the end zone with 34 seconds left until halftime.
  • The Quakers ran one play before running out the second-quarter clock to take a 10-6 lead at the intermission.
  • The teams traded punts on their drives in the third quarter.
  • Olivet took over at its own 45-yard line with 31 ticks remaining in the third quarter. Using seven running plays and a 23-yard pass completion, the Comets took their first lead 13-10, on a 6-yard touchdown run by senior Noah McMinn and PAT kick by freshman Samuel Roose with 12:41 showing on the fourth quarter clock.
  • Wilmington was forced to punt the ball back to Olivet with 10:33 left in the game.
  • After 11 plays got the Comets down to the 6-yard line, they faced fourth down. After the Quakers called timeout, Jarrett found sophomore tight end Seth Young over the middle and in the end zone for a touchdown. Roose's PAT kick split the uprights and Olivet led 20-10 with 2:12 remaining.
  • Wilmington got the ball back and cut its deficit to three on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Ace Taylor with 45 seconds remaining.
  • The Quakers' on-side kick went out-of-bounds. Olivet went into victory formation and two kneel-downs ended the game.

FOR THE COMETS

  • Olivet finished the game with 265 yards of offense, just six more yards than Wilmington.
  • McMinn had 26 carries for 110 yards.
  • Making his first collegiate start, Jarrett completed 11-of-18 passes for 97 yards. He also rushed nine times for 30 yards.
  • Freshman Jalen Broussard caught three passes for 37 yards, and fellow freshman Zameer Wallace had four receptions for 36 yards.
  • Sophomore Andrew Campbell topped the defense with 11 tackles.
  • Senior Coleton Swims tallied eight tackles.

FOR THE QUAKERS

  • Wilmington recorded 27 net rushing yards.
  • Malik Sims led the ground game with nine carries for 35 yards.
  • Barrett threw for 212 yards on 18-of-28 passing.
  • Taylor was the leading receiver, as he hauled in eight passes for 75 yards.
  • Defensively, Tavion Bryant collected a team-best 11 tackles.
  • Eli Berner finished with nine stops.

UP NEXT

  • Olivet travels to play Concordia University-Chicago (Ill.) next Saturday, Sept. 14. Kickoff at Concordia Stadium is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.