The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
BW-JCU game is biggest in 25 years
This one will have almost everything.
All that will be missing is the Ohio Athletic Conference title on the line. No. 1-ranked Mount Union (9-0) has clinched the outright championship and automatic bid to the NCA A Division III playoffs.
A nice consolation prize is waiting for Baldwin Wallace and John Carroll on Nov. 10. It will be a win-andin-type playoff game in Don Shula Stadium at 1 p.m.
As always, bragging rights will be on the line, and the right to hold onto the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl — or as the players call it, “The Rock.” Whenever the crosstown rivals face off, there’s a big crowd, but expect a few more alumni and fans on both sides to be in attendance.
That’s because for the first time since 1994, a postseason berth is on the line for both teams. That season, JCU beat BW, 9-0, to force a three-way tie atop the OAC with Mount. It was the first time until JCU in 2016 that another team other than the Purple Raiders won the OAC.
“You know what? It’s neat that it’s the last game of the season again,” said secondyear BW coach Jim Hilvert, whose team faced JCU last season in the regular-season opener. “The game’s even bigger. We’re playing for the playoffs and The Rock. We’re excited.”
Hilvert’s Yellow Jackets are 8-1, and since a loss to Mount earlier in the season are riding a six-game win streak. Coach Rick Finotti’s Blue Streaks are also 8-1, with their only loss a hardfought 23-10 at Mount that was a defensive struggle until the final seconds when
the Purple Raiders scored a defensive touchdown.
The NCAA’s second regional rankings, a tool it uses to determine its 32team playoff field, were released Nov. 7, and the positions of JCU and BW only adds to the drama. In the North Region, Mount is No. 1 with 8-1 North Central (Ill.) at No. 2. JCU checks in at No. 3, followed by Trine (9-0) and BW at No. 5.
“We play for that rock, and that means a lot,” said JCU senior running back Sam Kukura of Kirtland. “It’s more than just a rock. It means everything to us.”
The Blue Streaks have played that way, as they’ve won the last five meetings. They started that streak with big wins in 2013 (27-7) and 2014 (45-7), but the last three have been nail-biters.
In 2015, JCU won, 1714, then by scores of 17-10 in 2016, and 24-21 last season in Hilvert’s and Finotti’s first season.
“We’ve been in playoffs (mode) ever since we lost to Mount,” said JCU quarterback Anthony Moeglin. “We’re not changing our approach. We know what’s coming down the pipe.”
As for the 2018 contest:
“It’s a playoff game,” said Kukura. “They’ve lost one game. We’ve lost one game. It’ll be a battle. When it’s (BW), everything gets amped up.”
JCU’s players aren’t the only ones amped for Nov. 10. Said Finotti: “This is what you coach for … competitors, they live for this. They play best in these situations when’s the pressure’s on, so it’s going to be exciting.”
Finotti isn’t a stranger to big-time rivalries. He spent two years on Coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan, and seven seasons as the head coach at St. Edward, where its top rival is St. Ignatius.
“I’ve been lucky to be a part of a lot of rivalries, and one thing’s the same,” said Finotti. “There’s history between two teams.”
BW’s success this season shouldn’t be a surprise, especially considering Hilvert’s track record before BW. He led Cincinnati LaSalle to back-to-back Division II state championships in 2015 and 2016. Before that, he was the coach at D-III Thomas More in Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. His combined coaching
record is 93-23 the past 11 seasons.
That type of success did not put Hilvert’s teams in the role of underdog many times, but that’s what BW will be against JCU. The coach is welcoming it.
“There’s no doubt, I love to be the underdog,” said Hilvert. “I don’t think many people thought we’d be 8-1 right now. I know my kids like (the role of underdog). It’s good a thing. Oh yeah.”
Statistically, the separator between the teams is defense. Each are averaging plenty of points and yards on offense — BW 39 points and 458 yards; JCU 39 and 440 — but there’s a gap with the JCU defense.
The Blue Streaks are allowing just 12.3 points, 245 yards and have posted three shutouts. They’ve also forced 20 turnovers, and their 47 sacks lead the nation in D-III. The Yellow Jackets allow 24 points and 354 yards.
“Their defense plays physical football, and it starts up front,” said Hilvert. “Those four to six guys up front (on the defensive line) are big and really good. Their defense can match up with any team in the country.”