By Tony Carter

For the Gazette

The Ohio Wesleyan University football team came out on top against cross-town foe Otterbein University on Saturday night at Shelby Stadium, getting four defensive takeaways on the way to a lopsided 26-7 non-conference win.

The Bishop defense was in control all night, allowing just 255 total yards while collecting four interceptions and forcing the Cardinals to go 4-for-14 on third downs.

OWU came out of the gates ready to play, marching down the field and establishing the running game. Post-grad senior quarterback Kaden Buza completed three passes in a row during the drive, including an 11-yard pass and catch to freshman running back Nathan Severs on a third-and-nine play. Following an offsides call, Severs capped it off with an eight-yard scamper to the end zone to give the Bishops an early 7-0 advantage.

The teams could not muster much offense on the ensuing drives, trading punts. At the Otterbein 42-yard line, sophomore punter Ethan Shipps perfected the coffin corner, pinning the Cardinals down at their own one-yard line. On first down from the goal line, sophomore defensive tackle Ya’Va Harris broke through the line of scrimmage and dropped Otterbein back John Lard in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

A few drives later, Buza got comfortable … and shared the wealth. He connected on multiple passes to junior wide receivers C.T. Taylor, Bryan Hines Jr. and Josh Hurst.

But, on first down at the Cardinal 30, Buza threw a jump ball to the sure-handed Hurst and was picked off by Vincent Fisher.

After the play concluded, though, Fisher was called for pass interference, keeping the drive alive. Then, on third and goal from the eight, Buza found Hurst in the endzone, extending the lead to 16 before half.

The OWU defense forced yet another three and out to start the second half, but, despite Severs and his counterpart, junior running back Devon Haley, running for 36 combined yards to get the Bishops to the red zone, Otterbein forced a turnover on downs to temporarily stop the bleeding.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, time wasn’t on their side.

Senior strong safety Sammy Stoner intercepted Otterbein’s Hayden Lehmann, out jumping a Cardinals receiver in the process with less than five minutes left in the third quarter.

With all the momentum, Ohio Wesleyan started its next drive at midfield, looking to add on to an already comfortable advantage. Haley continued to run hard, picking up chunk play after chunk play. With 2:19 remaining, Haley, who collected over 30 yards on the ground during the drive, crossed the goal line.

Otterbein managed to score a few minutes into the final quarter, but the writing was on the wall. Ohio Wesleyan killed some clock the next drive, with Shipps nailing a 26-yard field goal to make it a 19-point game. The Battling Bishops cruised the rest of the way.

Buza went 20-for-40 with 175 through the air. He tossed one touchdown and was intercepted twice. Hurst had eight receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown grab. Severs and Haley combined for 137 rushing yards, scoring once each.

Senior linebacker Bryar Ramey led the Bishops defense with 11 total tackles. Senior defensive tackle Terrell Burton II collected 7 tackles, and senior linebacker Seth Anderson had 6 tackles. Stoner, junior Jake Smothers, sophomore Chris Burns and sophomore Grant Johnson each had an interception.

Ohio Wesleyan travels to Crawfordsville, Indiana to take on Wabash in its first conference matchup next weekend. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.