WHEELING, W.Va. (Oct. 28) - The Wheeling Jesuit University football team easily dispatched the Ashland University junior varsity (D-II) team 46-0 Sunday afternoon in an exhibition game at Bishop Schmitt Field.

Freshman quarterback Tucker Strachan (Kensington, Md./Bullis) finished the afternoon 9-of-12 with 116 yards and a touchdown. Freshman running back Sy Alli IV (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) led the ground attack with 88 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns. He also added a 24-yard touchdown reception to his final line.

The Cardinals only needed three plays on the opening drive of the game to put points on the board. Alli followed up a 27-yard run with a 15-yard touchdown scamper to put WJU up 7-0 55 seconds into the game.

Ashland had the first of many special teams miscues two possessions later when they received a punt inside the 10-yard line and the returner fumbled into his own end zone for a safety that made the score 9-0 with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

Wheeling Jesuit took over at midfield on the safety punt and quickly moved into the red zone, before freshman Max Baker (Canton, Ohio/Massillion Perry) took a direct-snap and scored from four yards out to increase the Cardinal advantage to 16-0 with under five minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The onslaught continued when Ashland punted on the ensuing possession and freshman Aaron Finch (Atlanta, Ga./Langston Hughes) returned it 64 yards for a touchdown to make the score 23-0 early in the second quarter. Finch would return the next punt by Ashland 71 yards to setup a one-yard touchdown run by Alli that pushed the WJU lead to 30-0 with 9:09 left in the first half.

Ashland fumbled the ensuing kick-off inside its own 10-yard line to setup another one-yard touchdown run, this time from freshman JaMaal Petteway (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville), that made the score 36-0 with 8:16 to play in the second quarter. WJU added a field goal and another touchdown in the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 46-0 lead into halftime.

The second half was played with a running clock and both teams focused heavily on the run to quickly bring the game to its conclusion.

The Cardinals will conclude its 2018 exhibition schedule this Saturday, November 3 when they welcome Jirah Prep (N.C.) for a 6 p.m. kick-off under the lights at Bishop Schmitt Field.