COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Capital University football team fell 38-32 in a thrilling double overtime contest against Heidelberg on Saturday afternoon. The Student Princes entered the game having spent much of the season in the top 25 rankings and is currently receiving votes in the national polls. With the result, Heidelberg moves to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the OAC, while Capital sits 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the conference.
The thrilling contest saw multiple lead changes and several big plays on both sides of the ball and proved it all the way through the second overtime period.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Capital got out in front first as they scored on a 64-yard pass from
Tyler Love to
Wesley Armstead with 8:29 left in the first quarter.
Ethan Graham's PAT was good to make it 7-0.
On their next possession, Heidelberg scored a touchdown on an 11-yard pass play to Drew Miller. The Berg PAT would eventually be blocked by
Robbie Hatcher – the first block of the defensive lineman's big day. The score would remain, 7-6.
Heidelberg would go in front next as Aiden Bradshaw would catch a TD pass from Alex Arledge and the PAT would connect to make it 13-7 early in the second quarter.
Capital got their lead back at 14-13 on the next drive as
Zion Solomon would punch in from one yard out and Graham would connect on the PAT.
Just before the halftime break, Heidelberg scored again as Miller had a short TD run of his own. The PAT was again blocked by
Robbie Hatcher – his second block of the day. The score would ride into the break at 19-14, Berg in front.
In the third quarter, Capital got a field goal from Graham to make it 19-17 with the scoring coming right after
Morgan Godwin blocked a Heidelberg punt for negative yardage.
Miller added another score for Berg to again add to their lead at 26-17. Undeterred, Capital came back just two plays later after a huge kickoff return from
Xavier Rodriguez. The score came from a
Tyler Love to
Preston Hannika pass play. After Graham's kick, the score read 26-24, Berg.
Heidelberg responded with an 89-yard touchdown run by Miller to go up 32-24, but yet another PAT block by
Robbie Hatcher kept the score just an eight point difference. The block for Hatcher was his third kick block of the game, breaking a Capital football record from 1937 set by Harry Campbell. Campbell had two kick blocks in a game against Marietta on October 9, 1937.
With the score still a one possession game, Capital responded in force on their next drive, scoring on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Love to Hannika with 56 seconds left. Down two, Capital went for the tie and converted as Love connected with Armstead in the corner of the end zone to level the score at 32-32. With 56 seconds left, the Cap defense remained strong and kept the score tied to force overtime.
In the first period over OT, Capital halted the Berg drive as
AJ Conti broke up a pass in the end zone and the ball fell in the hands of
Bryson Roberts for an interception. With the ball on offense, Capital got into field goal range and an untimely delay of game penalty proved costly as Graham's kick hit the post to keep the score tied.
With an offensive possession first in the second overtime period, Capital again settled for a field goal, but this time Graham's kick was blocked, keeping the score tied again.
Unfortunately for Capital, Heidelberg's Miller would score on a 25-yard run on their next play to win the game 38-32.
THE NUMBERS
Tyler Love threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns on 19 completions.
Xavier Rodriguez was the leading rusher, picking up 90 yards on 17 carries.
Zion Solomon added 13 yards and a score as well.
In receiving,
Wesley Armstead had five catches for 139 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Preston Hannika also added five catches for 42 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Demoyne Stoney made three catches for 33 yards, while
Finn Devine, Rodriguez,
Markus Mealy and
Jake Fitzpatrick combined for the other six catches.
On defense, Capital was busy with four players in double digits for tackles.
Marcus Young Jr. led the way with 17 stops, followed by
Olaoluwa Obayemi with 16 tackles.
Jio Rodriguez finished with 12 tackles and
Diamonte Salley added 10 stops.
Bailey Johnson was next on the team with eight tackles.
AJ Adams recorded the only sack of the game, while Young Jr. and Rodriguez led the team with 1.5 TFLs each.
Bryson Roberts had the only interception for Capital, while
Jio Rodriguez added a fumble recovery.
Robbie Hatcher had four tackles to complement his outstanding afternoon on kick block plays as he finished with the three blocks.
Morgan Godwin also added a block on punt coverage to go with two special teams tackles.
Capital punted just three times with
Jensen Petro punting twice for an average of 44.5 yards per punt and
Wesley Armstead had one punt for 36 yards.
In returns,
Xavier Rodriguez totaled 140 yards on four kickoff returns.
Ethan Graham was 1-for-3 on field goals, but was 3-for-3 on PATs.
Petro sent six kickoffs for an average of 59.5 yards per kickoff.
UP NEXT
Capital will be back home next week for their final game of the season as they host Ohio Northern for senior day. The game is slated for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
