WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Capital University football team made an exciting trip to our nation's capital, heading to Washington, D.C. for their 2024 season-opener at the Catholic University of America. There, the Comets started the game sharply, but ultimately played catch-up for much of the way before falling 38-20 at the final buzzer. 

The Comets, now 0-1, started the game brightly, forcing a Cardinal (1-1) three-and-out on the first drive of the game. On that play, Jesse Foster, Griffin McKinney and Robbie Hatcher combined for a pair of sacks to shut down the drive. 

After the Catholic punt, Capital found themselves staring at a long field, 92 yards from pay dirt. Despite the long way to go, Capital stayed composed and embarked on a eight-play drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown pass from Ben Owens to Simon Smith for the opening score of the season. Gathering much of that field was a 45-yard completion from Owens to Kassim Johnson that ate up the middle of the field. 

Despite the early score and lead, Capital allowed a Cardinal touchdown before the end of the first quarter and ultimately fell behind in the second quarter, going to the half trailing 21-7. 

Out of the break, the Comets started to muster some momentum trimming the lead to 21-14 midway through the frame thanks to a 17-yard hook-up from Ben Owens to Kassim Johnson for a touchdown. 

Trying to answer back a Catholic field goal near the start of the fourth quarter, Capital eventually was forced to send a short punt that allowed the Cardinals room to work, eventually scoring another TD to go ahead 31-14. 

In the fourth quarter, Catholic added another score, but Capital did not give up, eventually scoring on the game's final drive thanks to a one-yard connection from Owens to Nate Younker. The drive was spurred on by some Catholic penalties and a couple big catches from Trevor Shook, Preston Hannika, and Steven Alaniz. 

Overall, Ben Owens made a strong start at quarterback, connecting on 30 of his 42 pass attempts. His output yielded 312 yards through the air and three touchdowns. 

Trevor Shook was the leading rusher, picking up 23 yards. 

In the receiving game, 10 different receivers caught passes with Nate Younker leading the way. He finished with seven catches for 92 yards and one score. Kassim Johnson had four catches for 66 yards and a score. Simon Smith finished with five catches for 22 yards and a touchdown. Other to reel in catches were Steven Alaniz, Shook, Trent Renz, Jake Fitzpatrick, Preston Hannika, Wesley Armstead, and Jamey Bollo. 

On defense, Cyrus Burden was the leading tackler with eight stops. He was followed by Owen Beatty (6), Griffin McKinney (5) and Bryson Roberts, Bailey Johnson and Jesse Foster with four each. 

Owen Beatty also came up with a fumble recovery midway through the first half. 

In special teams play, Tyler Terrell was busy, sending six punts for an average of 44.2 yards per boot. He also added a 63-yard punt which marked the fifth longest punt from a Capital punter in program history. On kickoffs, Terrell averaged 59.7 yards per boot. He was good on his two PAT tries as well. 

Kassim Johnson recorded 109 yards of five kickoff returns, while Bailey Johnson had one 13 yard return. 

UP NEXT
Capital will return to Columbus to open up their home slate and OAC play next Saturday, September 21st as they host Baldwin Wallace University for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.