Football ends 2013 season on 3-game winning streak after 42-21 victory over Otterbein

By Tim Glon

ADA — The Ohio Northern football team ended its 2013 season on a 3-game winning streak after posting a 42-21 victory over Otterbein on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.

The Polar Bears end their season with a 6-4 record and finish in a three-way tie with Otterbein and Baldwin Wallace in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 5-4 league mark.

The Cardinals end their season at 5-5 overall.

Northern also won for the 17th time in the last 19 regular season finales and finished in the upper division of the OAC for the 17th time in the last 18 seasons.

Junior Patrick Angle completed 27-of-35 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns and sophomore Justin Magazine ran 15 times for 66 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Polar Bear offense.

Defensively, junior Dillon Kwiat had 10 tackles and senior Josh Cantrell had eight tackles and an interception for ONU.

Northern went ahead 7-0 with a touchdown on its second possession, taking advantage of a strong southerly wind to drive 44 yards in five plays after a short PU punt.

Angle hit junior Justin McCray on a 23-yard scoring pass with 5:09 left in the opening period.

OU tied the game on a 20-yard interception return for a score by Alex Cameron just 2:28 later.

With the game tied at 7-7, Ohio Northern drove inside the Otterbein 20-yard line on seven consecutive possessions to take control of the game.

ONU marched 69 yards in four plays to go up 14-7 on a 14-yard TD pass from Angle to sophomore Devon Price with just 19 seconds left in the first period.

OU used the wind to its advantage to tie the game at 14-14 in the second quarter, marching 75 yards in 12 plays to score on a 4-yard pass from Ryan Thombs to Bryson Wray with 8:51 left in the half.

But the Polar Bears answered, driving 82 yards in 12 plays into the wind to go up 21-14 with 2:54 left in the half on a 1-yard run by Magazine.

Northern then took the second half kickoff and marched 75 yards in 10 plays into the wind for another score taking 5:03 off of the clock.

Angle hit senior Justin Buenger on an 8-yard touchdown pass to put the Polar Bears up 28-14.Northern then drove 70 yards in eight plays and went up 35-14 on a 9-yard run by Magazine with 5:14 left in the third.

Northern opened the four quarter by driving 62 yards in nine plays to go up 42-14 on a 2-yard run by Magazine with 11:11 left in the game.

"I am very proud of our team and especially our seniors," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "We finished the season strong. Our seniors kept working hard and stayed upbeat even after we were 3-4 on the season. We finished with three very solid victories to send them out with a winning season and get a fourth place finish in the league."

Ohio Northern out-gained Otterbein 476-206 in total offense.

Finishing strong has been a consistent trait for Paul's teams, as the Polar Bears are now 20-4 all-time under Paul games played in the month of November.