Greencastle, Ind. - On a day that included a 2 1/2-hour lightning delay, John Carroll scored with 14.4 seconds left and knocked off DePauw by a 31-27 in a North Coast Athletic Conference game that ended in the dark on Nick Mourouzis Field at Blackstock Stadium. DePauw, ranked ninth in the latest coaches' poll and 11th by D3football.com, dropped to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the NCAC. The Blue Streaks, ranked 14th by D3football.com and 15th in the coaches' poll, improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play.

John Carroll built a 21-13 lead before lightning suspended play with 2:38 left in the third. The Blue Streaks extended the lead to 24-13 after Colin Schuler booted a 24-yard field goal with 14:46 left in the fourth. The teams traded punts and DePauw took over on its own 46. Scott Ballentine connected with Evan Pitzer for a 46-yard gain on the first play and then tossed an 8-yard scoring pass to Robby Ballentine to cut the deficit to 24-19 with 10:08 remaining. After a delay of game penalty, the Tigers' two-point conversion pass was intercepted.

DePauw's Holt Heldebrand intercepted John Carroll's Nick Semptimphelter on the first play after the kickoff and returned it to the John Carroll 24. The Tigers advanced to the John Carroll 17 before Scott Ballentine's fourth-down pass was picked off in the end zone by JP Germano with 7:58 remaining.

The DePauw defense recorded a three-and-out and the Tigers took over on their own 40. Scott Ballentine teamed with Pitzer on second down for a 30-yard gain and then converted a fourth-down situation with a 4-yard pass to Caden Whitehead. Two plays later Scott Ballentine found Palmer Samuels in the end zone for a 23-yard score with 2:02 left to give the Tigers a 25-24 lead. Scott Ballentine then completed a pass to Robby Ballentine for the two-point conversion to give the Tigers a 3-point lead.

John Carroll started the game-winning drive on its own 23 and converted a third down to the Blue Streaks' 42. Semptimphelter then completed a 38-yard pass to Shane Lindstrom to the DePauw 20. Semptimphelter converted another third down with a 9-yard pass to Nolan Tanner to the 5. The Blue Streaks fumbled the first-down play but recovered at the 9 and Semtimphelter found Cohen Klimak for a 5-yard gain to the 4 before tossing the game winner to Tyren Montgomery. 

The Tigers advanced to their own 35 after a pass interference call against John Carroll and then moved to the Blue Streaks' 21 after a series of laterals, but John Carroll recovered a fumble and the game ended.

John Carroll grabbed a 7-0 lead in the first on an 18-yard pass from Semtiphelter to Montgomery before DePauw got on the board with Matthew Berry's 51-yard field goal. Montgomery's 17-yard catch from Semtiphelter with 11:51 left in the second pushed the lead to 14-3 before Samuels scored on a 29-yard pass from Scott Ballentine with 7:13 remaining in the half.

Semtiphelter's 17-yard run with 4:24 left in the half extended the John Carroll lead to 21-10 before Berry hit a 25-yard field goal with 6:12 left in the third.

Scott Ballentine completed 17-of-31 passes for 258 yards with three touchdowns and one interception with Samuels establishing career highs with five catches for 106 yards and Robby Ballentine hauling in five for 45 yards. Whitehead rushed for 97 yards on 23 carries.

Semptimphelter completed 25-of-34 passes for 297 yards with three touchdowns and his first two interceptions of the season. Montgomery caught 12 for 109 yards and three scores with Lindstrom totaling six catches for 136 yards.

Toreeq Jimoh-Oyesigi led DePauw with seven tackles with Zach Reese totaling six. Chris Green had two sacks and Luke Nolan led with 2.5 tackles for loss. Holt Heldebrand and Nathan Creed each had interceptions for the Tigers. Kenny Grobolsek totaled seven stops for John Carroll.

DePauw held an 18-15 edge in first downs and outgained John Carroll 345-336 including 165-72 in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers travel to Denison on Saturday, Oct. 25, for a 3 p.m. NCAC game.

NOTES

• Matthew Berry's 51-yard field goal was the longest by a DePauw player since Tom Downham's school-record 54-yarder in 1987.
• The loss snapped DePauw's 29-game regular season win streak which started on October 22, 2022, its string of 14 straight regular season home wins and its 23-game conference streak.
• The Tigers held John Carroll to just 39 rushing yards and have allowed just 3 net rushing yards in six games.