Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
BEREA, Ohio – On a windy Saturday afternoon at George Finnie Stadium, Heidelberg University running back Cartel Brooks had a good month.
Brooks, a junior from Galion, set an NCAA All-Division record with 465 yards on 38 carries.
Heidelberg (8-2, 7-2 OAC) defeated Baldwin Wallace University 42-14, powered by Brooks and a determined HU defense.
Brooks' mark surpassed the record set earlier this year by Western Connecticut's Octavius McKoy, who rushed for 455 yards in October.
"We had a good game today," said the soft-spoken Brooks. "This could be our last game, so we wanted to play well for our seniors. I just followed my blocks."
Brooks found the end zone three times, from 81 yards, 41 yards and 13 yards out. The 13-yarder, which came with 4:26 left in the fourth quarter, is the rush that broke McKoy's record.
"When we recruited him, did we expect him to be able to do something like this? Probably," said head coach Mike Hallett. "The wind was a little tricky, so today turned into more of a 'ground-and-pound' game. We felt like Cartel was going to do some good things – and he did."
Baldwin Wallace (6-4, 5-4 OAC) scored on their first and last possession of the game. In between, the Heidelberg defense bent, but didn't break. The Yellow Jackets turned on ball over on downs four times. With the score tied at 7 in the second quarter, BW tried to pound the ball into the end zone four times from inside the Heidelberg 5–yard line.
Seniors Mitchell Kelly and Adam Cepik recorded 10 tackles apiece. Ryan Malloy had eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss.
'Berg quarterback Michael Mees finished with 168 yards and three touchdowns on 15-of-21 passing. Senior receiver Josh Lynch turned in his best effort as a Student Prince. Lynch collected 64 yards and a touchdown on three catches.
Ethan Kindle and Zach Hogya each had a touchdown reception for Heidelberg.
In addition to the NCAA record, Brooks set several other records. The 465-yard outburst shattered his own school record of 337 yards, which he set in a Week Six win at Otterbein. It also broke the OAC record, held by Dante Brown. Brown had 441 yards against BW in 1996.
On a 21-yard carry in the second quarter, Brooks broke Heidelberg's single-season rushing mark. Germany Woods had 1,421 yards in 2011. Cartel finished with 1,704 yards.
Mees' three touchdowns gave him a record-tying 27 for the season, equaling Andrew Miller's mark in 2008.
The Student Princes racked up a season-high 673 yards of offense.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak, which was the longest slide for Heidelberg since the 2010 season.
With an 8-2 record, Heidelberg holds a slim chance at receiving one of five at-large bids into the 32-team NCAA Division III playoffs, which begin next week. The field will be announced during the Selection Show that airs Sunday evening.