Season Preview: Football eyeing strong surge in 2021
By Wes Mayberry
| 2021 Ohio Northern Football Schedule |
ADA — The history of Ohio Northern football accentuates a tradition of a consistent winning program featuring several surges to national relevance.
The Polar Bears went a combined 22-8 from 2004-06, 23-9 from 2008-10 and 22-10 from 2013-15 and have set the tone for another potential surge by finishing the 2019 season with a pair of wins over nationally ranked opponents and going 3-1 in the spring after the 2020 campaign was delayed and shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Is Northern ready to build on this momentum and add to this surge? Head coach Dean Paul, now in his 18th year leading the Polar Bears, believes so.
"There's talent on both sides of the ball that gives us reason to be optimistic," Paul said. "We feel good about where we're at."
However, Paul knows the difference between good and great is a fine line that relies on the team building great chemistry, leadership and resiliency.
"Experience tells us that every team will be presented with three to four unexpected obstacles during a season," he said. "How the team handles these tests will ultimately determine whether it reaches its full potential or not."
Paul has good reason to be optimistic, though, as 50 lettermen, including several starters and upperclassmen, are returning this fall. That group includes junior defensive end Josh Bever (Ashland), who is a 2021 3football.com Preseason All-American after an All-Ohio Athletic Conference season as a sophomore in which he led the team and was second in the conference with 5.5 sacks and third in the conference with 7.5 tackles for loss.
Christiaan Williams (Sidney/Anna), the program's all-time leading rusher with 4,193 career yards and another 2021 3football.com Preseason All-American, was hoping to close out his collegiate career this season as a fifth-year senior. But a knee injury, which cost him the 2018 and 2020 seasons, will prevent him from taking the field.
Williams closes out his ONU career with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and 34 rushing touchdowns while ranking fourth in program history with 5,020 all-purpose yards. He ran for more than 100 yards in 25 of his 29 career games and is a three-time All-Conference First Team selection and two-time All-American.
"Christiaan worked really hard in the offseason and is in phenomenal shape," Paul said. "It's unfortunate that one of the best players in program history isn't going to get to play his last year."
But the Polar Bears still have plenty of talent throughout the roster.
The following is a preview of the 2021 Ohio Northern football team:
Quarterback
Fifth-year senior Brody Hahn (Louisville) is back after completing 62% of his passes for 1,209 yards and 10 touchdowns against just one interception while rushing for 246 yards and seven touchdowns in his first season as a Polar Bear in 2020 following his transfer from Muskingum.
Hahn was a three-time OAC Player of the Week last season and ended the year as an All-OAC selection, finishing second in the conference in passing yards per game (302.3) and third in passing touchdowns and completion percentage.
"Brody had a really good year last year," Paul said. "He's a guy that we feel confident can make plays and help us in a lot of ways with his ability to throw and run."
Hahn's backup is senior Trevor McConnell (Troy, Mich./Cranbrook).
Running back
Senior Brock Martin (Attica/Seneca East) has proven quite capable of filling in for Williams during his career. A member of the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, the three-year letterman led the OAC in rushing touchdowns last season with seven and ranked third in the conference in rushing yards (317), rushing yards per game (79.3) and yards per rush (5.7) in starting all four of the Polar Bears' games at running back.
A two-time All-Conference player, Martin enters the 2021 season with 1,234 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns in his career.
"With Brock, we're fortunate to have a guy who's ready to step in and take that starting role," Paul said.
Paul also expects junior Jamir Nunley (Cleveland/Mayfield) to contribute at running back after rushing for 91 yards in the spring.
"Jamir is a good changeup," Paul said. "He's more of a shifty, quick runner whereas Brock is a strong, physical runner."
Receiver and tight end
Paul likes the talent and depth he has at the receiver position this season.
"This is one of the better receiver groups we've had in a long time," he said. "It's a talented group that complements each other well."
Senior Austin Eick (Rossford) returns after leading the team in receiving with 20 catches for 370 yards and four touchdowns and earning All-Conference honorable mention recognition in the spring. The receiving yardage and touchdowns both ranked fifth in the OAC.
Fifth-year senior Chase Rose (Kenton/Upper Scioto Valley) is also back after an All-Conference 2020 season in which he caught 12 passes for 288 yards and four scores.
The 2021 receiving corps also includes fifth-year senior James McDougald (Bowie, Md./Bridge Tutorial), juniors Jette Morgan (Wooster) and Jack DiMario (Dayton/Alter) and a pair of All-Conference tight ends in sophomore Noah Miller (Coldwater) and graduate transfer Logan Hughes (Meeker, Colo.), who joins the Polar Bears from Nebraska Wesleyan.
Offensive line
The Polar Bears' offensive line returns a 2020 All-OAC selection in fifth-year senior Jared Ritenour (Rockford, Ill./Lake Center) along with juniors Cordell Wyatt (Ashland) and Zach George (Utica/Northridge) and sophomores Aidan Thompson (Madison) and Aiden Train (Sheridan, Mich./Central Montcalm).
But those players could be challenged for playing time by a talented freshman class.
"This could be one of the best freshman classes on the O-line we've had in a while," Paul said. "We have a group of about 10 to 12 guys that have proven they can play at a pretty high level."
Defensive line
Paul described this season's defensive line group as one of the deepest he's had in a while.
This year's line is led by Bever and fellow 2020 All-OAC selections in fifth-year senior Jarrett Sitton (Paulding) and junior Nichal Johnson (College Park, Ga./Northgate). Johnson's eight tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks ranked second and third, respectively, in the conference last season while Sitton added four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
The D-line will also feature the likes of seniors Kedarius Woodfork (Brownsville, Tenn./Haywood) and Gabriel Hirsch (Elyria/Catholic) and junior Tyler Irigoyen (Fort Pierce, Fla./ Flagler Palm Coast).
"We're deep and talented — we have three to five guys that are All-Conference level players — so we're expecting a lot out of those guys this year," Paul said.
Linebacker
Sophomore Peyton Wilson (Lima/Shawnee) leads the linebacking corps after making a team-high 42 tackles in the spring, which was third-best in the OAC.
This position group also includes seniors Johnny Rupp (Maumee/Anthony Wayne) and Landon Plank (Ashland) and sophomore Trevon Salter (Atlanta, Ga./Grayson).
Defensive back
An All-OAC selection last season, A.J. Marks, who had a team-high two interceptions in the spring, has graduated, leaving the secondary somewhat thin on experience.
"The most inexperienced position is our secondary," Paul said. "There's talent there, but we're going to need them to continue to improve as we move forward."
Senior Jevon Taylor (Fort Wayne, Ind./North) leads the 2021 group after tallying 21 tackles and an interception last season.
He is joined by junior Nate Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph) and sophomore Ed Manning (Sanford, Fla./Seminole).
Special teams
Senior Dom DiFalco (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) returns as the Polar Bears' place kicker. He is 7-for-10 on field goals with a long of 49 yards and 57-of-60 on extra points in his career while averaging 54.1 yards on 58 kickoffs.
Punting for ONU this season will be seniors Aaron Everhart (Ada) and Jake Tanski (Eastlake/North). They averaged 26.9 and 26.2 yards, respectively, on 12 combined punts last season.
Schedule
The Polar Bears open their 10-game 2021 schedule with a home matchup against Denison on Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. before beginning OAC play at Muskingum on Sept. 11.
Other conference road games this season include dates at Wilmington (Sept. 18), John Carroll (Oct. 16) and Mount Union (Oct. 30).
ONU is scheduled to host OAC foes Otterbein (Sept. 25), Marietta (Oct. 2), Capital (Oct. 23), Baldwin Wallace (Nov. 6) and Heidelberg (Nov. 13).