DELAWARE, Ohio – Host Ohio Wesleyan showcased a big-play offense, while its defense forced three turnovers, to top Allegheny 39-9 in North Coast Athletic Conference action. 
 
While the Gators (0-9) held a decided advantage in time of possession (35:16 – 24:44) and matched Ohio Wesleyan's first down total, the Battling Bishops (4-5) scored three touchdowns of 40 yards or longer, and intercepted three Allegheny passes. 
 
The game looked to take a defensive theme early on, as the only points of the first quarter came on a 21-yard Ohio Wesleyan field goal with 4:47 left.  The kick by the Battling Bishops' Nolan Kovach capped off a long 14-play drive that spanned over five minutes, and came as a result of a goal line stand by the Gator defense. The Battling Bishops had first-and-goal inside the seven yardline, but the Gators stuffed a pair of runs before forcing an incomplete pass in the end zone.
 
The Gators answered with a long drive of their own on the ensuing possession, which was kept alive by a bit of trickery.  Facing a fourth-and-two at their own 34, the Allegheny punt unit came on, and punter Chris Bourne found John McFarland with a 26-yard pass on the fake to set up first down at the OWU 36.  A facemask penalty would advance the ball inside the 15, before a pair of Juwan Campbell runs would set up first and goal at the eight yardline. On the second play of the second quarter, the drive would abruptly stall, as OWU's Zane Kieffer intercepted a pass in the end zone, and returned it to midfield.
 
The Battling Bishops quickly made Allegheny pay for the miscue, as quarterback Dominic Orsini connected with Cheyne Lacanaria on the first play of the ensuing drive for a 43-yard touchdown strike, putting the hosts up 10-0 with 13:24 left in the half.
 
Allegheny would cut into the lead on their next trip.  After Jonah Tanner returned the kickoff 28 yards to the Allegheny 38, Jon Nigro completed three passes for 38 yards, including a 26-yard strike to Tyler Balla, to set up first down at the OWU 20.  The drive would stall out, before freshman Zach Bednarowicz came on to hit his first career field goal, a 27-yarder, to cut the OWU lead to 10-3 with 7:29 until the break.
 
Ohio Wesleyan answered right back with an eight-play, 66-yard drive that was capped off with a one-yard sneak by Orsini and successful two-point conversion that made the score 18-3 at the four minute mark to close out the first half's scoring.
 
The teams traded three scoreless possessions each to open the third quarter, before the Battling Bishops went up 25-3 after an 87-yard touchdown pass from Orsini to Doug Sanders with just under six minutes left in the stanza. 

The Bishops added onto the lead with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, including a 73-yard run by Orsini and a five-yard rush by Rob Hernais, to take a 39-3 lead with four minutes left to play, before the Gators closed out the game's scoring on their final possession. 
 
Following the Hernais score, Balla returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to the OWU 46.  Nigro opened the drive by completing a pair of passes for 21 yards, with an 11-yarder to McFarland and a 10-yarder to Tyler Noebe, before Campbell netted 21 yards on three carries to set up first and goal.  The junior running back would then cap off the drive with a five-yard run into the end zone for his second TD of the season with 18 seconds left in regulation.
 
Nigro completed 21 of 34 passes for 154 yards, but the Gator passing game was hampered by an opportunistic OWU secondary, which tallied three interceptions on the afternoon.  Balla hauled in a career-high nine passes for 68 yards, while McFarland made six grabs for 65 yards, and Noebe five for 49.  Campbell led the Gator run game with 43 yards on 17 carries, with Nick Deichler carrying the ball seven times for 29 yards.  Balla also added 88 yards on kick returns to finish with 156 all-purpose. 
 
Defensively, Nick Murgo led the Gators with 10 stops (5 solo), including one TFL, while Ben Capella totaled eight tackles and Travis Thomas seven.  Freshman Tristan Rhoades made his second interception of the season, while also adding four tackles.
 
For the second consecutive season, Orsini led the OWU offense against the Gators, as he tallied 424 yards of total offense, completing 24 passes for 316 yards and a touchdown, while running for 108 yards and two scores.  Lacanaria led both sides with 10 catches for 93 yards, while Deion Centero totaled 14 tackles, and Kieffer five tackles and two interceptions.
 
The Gators will wrap up the 2015 campaign next Saturday, Nov. 14, traveling to NCAC foe Wittenberg for a 1 p.m. contest that will mark the final in the career of Gator head coach Mark Matlak '78, who announced his retirement effective at the end of the season.