BEREA, Ohio – Despite a hot start from the Capital University football program on the road at Baldwin Wallace University, the Comets fell 59-35 at the final horn on Saturday afternoon. 

Capital (1-7, 1-6 OAC) burst out of the gates as Bennett Zerby took the game's opening kickoff 97 yards to the house, putting Cap ahead 7-0 early. The kickoff return by Zerby was the Comets' first since Aralius Walters Jr. returned a kickoff for a touchdown on October 30, 2021 vs. Otterbein – almost two years ago to the day. 

After the electrifying start, the Comets answered a BW (5-3, 5-2) score with a 27-yard touchdown connection from Ben Everson to Nate Younker to make it 14-7 in favor of the Comets midway through the opening quarter. 

That lead would be the final time CU would play from in front as the Yellow Jackets leveled the score before the end of the first and then took a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. 

Despite falling behind, Capital answered on a two-play drive by the Comets as Albree Grose broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown run at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter. The score was Grose's second career touchdown and marked a career long rush. 

Again the hosts went ahead by a TD, but Capital answered back, making it 28-28 as Everson connected with Drew Montoya for a five-yard score. The TD reception by Montoya was the first of his career. 

By halftime, BW built out a 38-28 lead that would prove to be too much for the Comets to return from. 

Despite falling behind further throughout the second half, Cap did get back in the end zone thanks to a 48-yard touchdown connected from Everson to Younker again. The score was a career long TD reception by Younker, but was not his career long catch (52 yards vs. Muskingum). The two TD game for Younker was his first career multi-score game. 

THE NUMBERS
Ben Everson ended the game, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-37 passing. His 37 passing attempts tied his career high from 2021. Today's three touchdown passes marked the fourth time this season Everson has recorded three or more TD passes in the same game. He has 18 touchdown passes on the year. 

Albree Grose ran for 77 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. He just missed his career-high in yardage which was 78 yards. 

Da'Vaughn Bufford ran four times for three yards. 

Nate Younker hauled in six catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns.  All three of those stats were career highs. His 155 yards also marks the first 100-yard receiving game by a Comet since Mike Elmore had 120 yards on September 16th vs. Muskingum. 

Elmore reeled in six catches for 64 yards. His six receptions was a career-best in terms of catches. 

Drew Montoya finished with two catches for 36 yards and his first career touchdown. 

Bufford recorded his first career reception for 23 yards. 

Bennett Zerby ended with two catches for 17 yards. He also added 160 yards of returns on three kickoffs, including the blistering 97-yard touchdown return on the game's opening kickoff. 

In defense, James Curtis recorded a career-high 15 tackles. He was followed closely by Nick Fisanick who ended with 13 stops. 

Owen Beatty made a career-high 10 tackles as well. 

Bryson Roberts (9 tackles), Dominic Marquette (7), Griffin McKinney (7), AJ Adams (7), and Tyson Shutler (6) rounded out the tackle leaders for Cap. 

AJ Adams was the leader in the backfield making two tackles for a loss, including the only Comets' sack of the day. McKinney was responsible for the other tackle for a loss by Capital. 

Tyler Terrell sent five punts through the windy conditions for 206 yards – an average of 41.2 yards per punt. His longest punt of the day sailed 52 yards. Terrell was also 5-for-5 on PATs, making him 26-for-26 on the year in this category. 

Ty Boughman sent six kickoffs for 292 yards and one touchback. 

Tyson Shutler took four kickoffs back for 35 yards and Drew Montoya took two kickoffs for 25 yards.
 
UP NEXT
Capital will return to Bernlohr Stadium for the final time in 2023 with a Senior Day contest with Marietta on Saturday, November 4th. Kickoff for that one will be at 1:30 p.m. The Comets will then finish the season on the road one week later on November 11th at Heidelberg.