Season Preview: Football boasts depth, experience at several positions for 2022
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — The Ohio Northern football team has attacked the offseason in a very intentional manner, and 19th-year head coach Dean Paul is excited to see that progress translate to the field in 2022.
"We have a good number of returners who have started, and we've had excellent retention of younger players in development, so we're developing depth at some positions that are hard to get depth in," Paul said. "Recruiting, retention and development is the name of the game, and we've been able to do well in those areas."
The Polar Bears return 45 lettermen and 18 starters as they look to bounce back from finishing 4-6 in 2021.
"Spirits have been good and morale has been high," Paul said. "We had some returners who improved over the summer, and we brought in a talented recruiting class. We believe we're trending in the right direction."
The team also made some adjustments to its coaching staff, promoting Andre Griffin to a full-time assistant and adding Jim Cordle and Aaron Krepps as assistants.
"Those guys have a ton of experience and are in positions where they can really shine and help our football team," Paul said.
The following is a position-by-position preview of the 2022 Ohio Northern football team.
Quarterback
Entering 2022, a few names are in the mix to play quarterback following the departure of fifth-year senior Brody Hahn after last season.
Fifth-year senior Trevor McConnell (Detroit, Mich./Cranbrook) enters with an edge based on seniority in the program, but younger players are providing competition at the position. Freshmen Adan Figueroa (Orange City, Fla./University) and Garrison Higgins (Waikoloa, Hawaii/Westlake) have stood out among other returners.
"Trevor has had a good spring and preseason and is playing with confidence, and we have some talented newcomers who are pushing to provide depth," Paul said. "There's some good competition there."
McConnell has played in five games in his ONU career, completing 11 of his 28 pass attempts for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Paul said the depth of talent at the other positions on the Polar Bears' offense will aid in the ongoing development of his inexperienced quarterbacks.
"Whoever our quarterback is, he is going to have some weapons. There are going to be people around him who have played a lot and who have a lot of talent," he said. "We have a good balance of really talented players in terms of numbers and having guys who complement one another well, which will help the quarterback position."
Running Back
Fifth-year senior and four-year letterman Brock Martin (Attica/Seneca East) returns to lead the ONU ground attack after finishing last season with a team-high 626 rushing yards to go with five touchdowns along with 14 receptions for 135 yards. His rushing yardage total ranked seventh in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Martin was an All-OAC Second Team selection and Academic All-OAC honoree in 2021 and earned an OAC Offensive Player of the Week accolade on Sept. 7 after leading ONU to a win over Denison with 118 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Martin is a three-time All-OAC pick who was named Second Team AP All-America as an all-purpose player as a sophomore and First Team Academic All-America as a junior. He has 422 carries for 1,860 yards and 21 touchdowns in his 34-game career.
"Brock has been the feature back and has also been a guy who has been part of a complementary package, so he's always been really unselfish. He's a great leader and a great back," Paul said. "We need to run the ball better than we did last year in order to be where we want to be, and I think he'll help us do that."
Senior Jamir Nunley (Cleveland/Mayfield) provides a different running style to the offense and will complement Martin in the backfield. He has 238 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 16 career games.
"Jamir is a good complement to Brock because he's a quick, shifty guy," Paul said.
Sophomore Kameron Cox (Enon/Greenon), who missed last season due to injury, and some talented freshmen provide additional depth at the position.
Receiver and Tight End
Paul has high praise for his collection of pass-catchers going into the 2022 season.
"We have a lot of talent at receiver," he said. "This is probably one of the deepest receiver groups that we've ever seen. It's a really strong group with complementary skill sets."
The group is led by fifth-year senior Austin Eick (Rossford), a four-year letterman who recorded a team-high 60 receptions, 1,037 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021. He ranked third in the OAC in receptions and yards and second in touchdowns en route to being named to the All-OAC First Team and D3football.com All-District 4 Second Team.
A three-time All-OAC selection, Eick ranks sixth all-time at ONU with 2,206 receiving yards, and he became just the sixth player in Polar Bear history to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a season in 2021. He has 125 receptions and 29 touchdowns in his 34-game career.
Other top returners include seniors and three-year lettermen Jack DiMario (Dayton/Alter) and Jette Morgan (Wooster).
DiMario ranked third on the team in 2021 with 28 receptions and 388 receiving yards and had one touchdown en route to earning Academic All-OAC recognition. He has 36 receptions for 513 yards and one score through 18 career games.
Morgan caught 17 passes for 278 yards and four touchdowns in 2021 and has 22 career receptions for 364 yards and five scores through 23 games.
Paul also highlighted seniors Nate Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph), Hunter Kesler (Oakwood/Paulding), Nick Tangeman (Maria Stein/Marion Local) and Gerald Harris (Washington, D.C./Northgate); juniors L.J. Payton (Wheelersburg) and Steele Morgan (Wooster); and sophomores Jordan Dean (Euclid/Villa Angela-Saint Joseph), Aleury Martinez (Washington, D.C./Fairmont Heights) and Cade Crawford (Carey) as key pieces of ONU's deep receiving corps.
Senior Davey Berner (New Carlisle/Tecumseh) and junior Noah Miller (Coldwater) lead the way at tight end.
An All-OAC Honorable Mention pick as a freshman, Miller has started all 14 games at tight end in his career and has 32 receptions for 294 yards and two touchdowns.
Berner has appeared in 16 games at tight end, including all 10 last season when he caught two passes for 22 yards and a score.
"We have two high-level guys at the tight end position who have proven to be some of the better ones in the conference, which is huge," Paul said.
Junior Alex Rowan (Cuyahoga Falls) and freshman Lathan Pawlowicz (Swanton) are also pushing to make an impact at tight end.
Offensive Line
Four returning starters in seniors Zach George (Utica/Northridge) and Cordell Wyatt (Ashland) and juniors Josh Andrews (Brook Park/Berea-Midpark) and Aidan Thompson (Madison) anchor the Polar Bears' offensive line in 2022. That foursome has a combined 54 games of playing experience.
"I'm excited about the offensive line because we have four guys who have started and two or three others who are pushing some returning starters for that starting spot," Paul said. "There's not a big drop-off from the first string to the third string. We have about 15 guys who are competing and pushing each other, which is exciting."
Other top offensive linemen include juniors Hunter King (Canal Winchester) and Aiden Train (Sheridan, Mich./Central Montcalm) and sophomores Freddie Burchett (Grove City/Central Crossing), Lance Good (Kenton/Hardin Northern) and Nate Holcomb (Williamston, Mich.) in addition to some talented freshmen.
Defensive Line
The defensive line is headlined by fifth-year senior Kedarius Woodfork (Brownsville, Tenn./Haywood) and seniors Josh Bever (Ashland), Nichal Johnson (College Park, Ga./Northgate) and Tyler Irigoyen (Palm Coast, Fla./Flagler Palm Coast).
Bever finished with a team-high six sacks and had 66 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries in 2021 en route to being selected to the D3football.com All-District 4 Second Team and All-OAC Second Team. The three-year letterman tied for fifth in the conference in sacks in 2021 and is a three-time All-OAC selection. He has started 23 of his 24 career games, tallying 147 tackles, 22 sacks and 32 tackles for loss.
Johnson earned All-OAC Honorable Mention status last season after posting 51 tackles, two sacks and seven tackles for loss. The three-year letterman and two-time All-OAC pick has appeared in 20 games with 14 starts, tallying 79 tackles, 8.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss in his career.
Woodfork has played in 23 games, compiling 75 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
Irigoyen has played in 12 games, tallying 32 tackles, two sacks and six tackles for loss.
"We have four guys with a lot of experience, but we need to start developing some other guys in the group behind them to give us more depth," Paul said.
That next group includes the likes of senior Jayden Brown (Dayton/Fairborn), junior Connor Rowe (Mantua/Crestwood) and sophomores Jake Bever (Ashland) and Luke Zebell (Waynesville).
Linebacker
Junior Peyton Wilson (Lima/Shawnee) is the team's leading returning tackler from last season when he finished with 78 tackles, which was tied for seventh-best in the OAC. He added one sack and four tackles for loss. Wilson earned an OAC Defensive Player of the Week accolade on Nov. 8 after making a career-high 18 tackles to go with one sack against Baldwin Wallace and was an Academic All-OAC selection in 2021.
"Peyton has played well since his freshman year, and we have added depth and competition at the linebacker position this fall," Paul said.
Senior Collin Flynn (Sagamore Hills/Nordonia); juniors Trevon Salter (Atlanta, Ga./Grayson), Cross De La Cruz (Findlay) and Braeden Gedeon (Bellbrook); and sophomores Grayson Malcom (Covington, Ga./Eastside) and Mikey Moon (Wickliffe) also return as top names in the linebacker rotation.
Defensive Back
Fifth-year senior and four-year letterman Jevon Taylor (Fort Wayne, Ind./North Side) returns to lead ONU's defensive backs in 2022. He finished with a team-high four interceptions last season, which ranked second in the OAC, and was named OAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 1 when he collected two interceptions against Mount Union. He added 54 tackles and three tackles for loss to his stat line for the season and has 66 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and five interceptions in 31 career games.
Paul also likes the depth behind Taylor.
"This is the position where we've seen our biggest improvement from last year in terms of depth," he said.
Seniors Matt Eller (Medina) and Adonis Ables (Panama City, Fla./North Hardin), junior Ed Manning (Sanford, Fla./Seminole) and sophomore Dalton Tjong (Cumming, Ga./West Forsyth) also bring significant starting experience to the position group.
Sophomores Austin Colon (Cumming, Ga./North Forsyth), Dennarrio Stewart (Snellville, Ga./Brookwood) and Quentel Bryant (Lake Alfred, Fla./Jordan Christian Prep), a transfer who started four games at Muskingum, provide additional depth.
Special Teams
Fifth-year senior and four-year letterman Dom DiFalco (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) returns as the starting kicker after making eight of his 12 field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards last season in addition to converting 43 of his 44 extra points. He was named OAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 4 after going 4-for-4 on PATs and making two of his three field goals, connecting from 22 and 40 yards out, against Marietta.
In 34 career games, DiFalco has tallied 145 points, converting 15 of his 22 field goals with a long of 49 yards and 100 of his 104 PATs. He enters 2022 having made 27 consecutive PATs, and his 100 made PATs ranks third all-time at ONU. His 145 career kicking points ranks fourth all-time.
"Dom has been one of the best kickers in the conference for the past three years," Paul said.
Sophomore Jonmichael Elliott (Richmond, Va./Clover Hill) leads what is a wide-open competition for the starting punter job.
Eick and DiMario return to handle punt-return duties, and Martin is back as the primary kickoff returner.
Schedule
The Polar Bears open their 10-game 2022 schedule Sept. 3 at home against Alma (Mich.) and then play three straight road games against OAC foes Capital, Heidelberg and Baldwin Wallace.
Northern hosts Mount Union on Oct. 1 and has back-to-back home games against John Carroll and Muskingum following a bye week.
The regular season concludes with games at Marietta and Otterbein followed by a home matchup with Wilmington.