Football: Ohio Northern (5-3 Overall, 4-3 OAC) at Wilmington (2-6 Overall, 1-6 OAC)

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, 1:30 pm - Williams Stadium, Wilmington, Ohio

| Game Notes (.pdf) |

Saturday's Contest: Today is the fifth and final road game and the penultimate game overall of the 2017 season for Ohio Northern. With a victory, ONU would clinch its 11th winning season in the last 13 years.

ONU Head Coach Dean Paul: Paul is in his 14th season at ONU with a 94-48 record. Paul is ONU's all-time winningest coach in ONU football history. He is 133-60 in 18 seasons overall and is 13-0 against WC.

WC head coach Bryan Moore: Moore is in his first season at WC with a 2-6 record. He is 0-0 against ONU.

ONU Last Week: QB Will Freed threw for 245 yards and 3 TDs, but his final TD was called back due to a penalty and Ohio Northern fell 35-28 to Marietta in Ada. Freed was 17-of-32 passing for 245 yards, but his 16-yard TD strike with 37 seconds left in the game appeared to pull ONU within 35-34, but it was called back on a hands to the face penalty. Northern drove back to the Marietta 7-yard line, but an incomplete pass on a 4th-and-4 with three seconds left ended the scoring threat. Marietta's Roger Walker ran 36 times for 264 yards and 4 TDs, including a 66-yard TD run with 1:22 left in the game to break the 28-all tie. RB Christiaan Williams ran 17 times for 66 yards and caught 3 passes for 59 yards for 125 yards of total offense for ONU. LB Zach Schmerge had a season-high 19 tackles and freshman Andrew Valenti had 10 tackles and blocked a field goal and a PAT for the Polar Bears.

ONU Leaders: The ONU running game is led by All-OAC RB Christiaan Williams (220 att, 1,319 yards, 6 TDs). All-OAC QB Will Freed is 155-of-259 passing for 2,026 yards and 20 TDs. WR Chad Rex (39 rec, 697 yards, 10 TDs), WR Malachi Nolletti (32 rec, 383 yards, 3 TDs) and RB Christiaan Williams (32 rec, 313 yards) lead the receiving corps. LB Mark Niles, LB Zach Schmerge and S Andrew Valenti lead the defense with 71, 71 and 53 tackles, respectively. DL Justin Croswell leads the team with 4.0 sacks.

WC Last Week: Heidelberg rolled up 542 yards of total offense and posted a 37-14 victory over Wilmington in Tiffin. WC QB Luke Creditt completed passes to nine different receivers and threw for 117 yards and a TD. HU led 17-0 when Creditt hit WR P.J. Meyer on a 7-tard TD pass with 26 left before halftime to make it 17-7. Creditt's 3-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter trimmed the deficit to 24-14, but HU would score two TDs in the next 4:25 to extend the lead to 37-14. Creditt carried the ball 20 times for 69 yards and a score and RB Gino Hinton gained 75 yards on 12 carries for WC.

WC Leaders: The WC running game is led by RB Eric Flynn (89 att, 471 yards, 4 TDs) and QB Luke Creditt (111 att, 368 yards, 2 TDs). QB Luke Creditt is 122-of-203 passing for 1,599 yards and 19 TDs. WR Ameer Jackson (32 rec, 443 yards, 2 TDs) and WR P.J. Meyer (24 rec, 466 yards, 8 TDs) lead the WC receivers. LB C.J. Thompson, LB Bryan Gonzalez and LB Leroy Wilson lead the defense with 60, 58 and 55 tackles, respectively. DL Ryan Prince leads WC with 3.0 sacks.

Last Year's Game: Ohio Northern scored on all seven of its first half possessions and cruised to an 80-3 victory over Wilmington in Ada. ONU rolled up 488 yards of total offense and got a pair of Pick-6s from their defense in the victory. QB Will Freed completed 15-of-17 passes for 264 yards and 5 TDs in two and a half quarters of play to lead Ohio Northern. He was 12-for-12 for 225 yards and four scores in the first half. RB Christiaan Williams ran 17 times for 103 yards and three scores and did not play in the second half. ONU led 21-0 after the first quarter, 49-3 at halftime and 70-3 after three quarters. In all, 88 players got into the game for the Polar Bears. The 80 points was the most for Ohio Northern in a single game since an 84-14 victory over Hiram on October 16, 1993 and is the most points scored in a game in Dial-Roberson Stadium history. RB Eric Flynn rushed 21 times for 132 yards to lead the Quakers.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: ONU leads the series between the two schools by a 26-3 margin. ONU has won the last 23 in the series, including a 80-3 win in Ada in 2016. ONU is 17-0 since WC joined the OAC in 2000 and is 23-0 since a 28-12 WC win in 1956.

Tickets: Tickets are priced at $7 for adults and $3 for seniors and non-OAC students and children.