Football rolls up 610 yards of offense in 49-16 victory over Wilmington

By Tim Glon

ADA -- The Ohio Northern football team rolled up 610 yards of offense in a 49-16 Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Wilmington on a warm, sunny afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.

The Polar Bears improve to 3-0 on the season and are 2-0 in OAC play, while the Quakers fall to 1-1, 0-1.

Both of ONU's running backs had career afternoons, as sophomore A.J. Marks (Guysville/Alexander) ran 10 times for a career-high 146 yards and a score and sophomore Brock Martin (Attica/Seneca East) rushed 23 times for a career-best 136 yards and two scores.

Junior quarterback Anthony McFadden (Chillicothe/Paint Valley) ran 10 times for 78 yards and completed 15-of-22 passes for 253 yards and three scores and senior Chad Rex (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch) caught nine passes for 140 yards and a TD for the Polar Bears.

Wilmington was led by Kyle Barrett, who completed 16-of-35 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, junior Mark Niles (Miramar, Fla.) had 10 tackles and junior David Haseleu (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) had six tackles, a sack and a 37-yard pick-6 for ONU.

The Polar Bears struck first when Martin plowed in from 1 yard out with 4:14 left in the opening period, but the Quakers tied it up when Barrett hit D.J. Chambers on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 1:31 left in the opening quarter.

Martin banged in from 2 yards out on ONU's next possession and McFadden hit sophomore Chase Rose (Kenton/Upper Scioto Valley) on a-17 yard touchdown pass to put Ohio Northern ahead 21-7 at halftime.

Marks raced in from 63 yards out to put ONU up 28-7 just 2:41 into the third period.

McFadden then hit senior Caleb Saalfeld (Modesto, Calif./Fred Beyer) on a 54-yard touchdown pass and the Polar Bears led 35-10 with 8:12 left in the period.

McFadden went on top again in early in the fourth quarter as he hit Rex on a 43-yard score and it was 42-10 with 11:53 left in the game.

Haseleu's pick-6 made it 49-10 with 7:13 to play.

"This was a good performance overall for us," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "We need to be cleaner and more consistent in our execution. We battle hard. Give some credit to Wilmington, they are well coached and played hard the entire game."

ONU out-gained WC 610-386 and held the ball for 31:29.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday with their first road game of the season, a 1:30 pm contest at Otterbein.