Football falls 35-14 to Heidelberg in Bendekovic Bowl XIII
September 16, 2023
ADA — The Ohio Northern football team fell 35-14 to Heidelberg in the 13th annual Bendekovic Bowl on a beautiful Saturday night at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
The Basics
- Records: Ohio Northern (1-2, 1-1 OAC), Heidelberg (2-0, 1-0 OAC)
- Venue: Dial-Roberson Stadium - Ada, Ohio
The Game
- Sophomore Brennon Norris (Stuebenville/Indian Creek) completed 12-of-32 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown and ran seven times for 36 yards and another score for ONU.
- Freshman Seth Borondy (Bellbrook) ran 18 times for 86 yards for the Polar Bears.
- Heidelberg took advantage of 4 first half turnovers by Ohio Northern to lead 21-7 at halftime.
- A 52-yard TD pass, followed by a 40-yard fumble recovery just 48 seconds later, broke a 7-7 tie and gave HU a 21-7 lead with three minutes left in the half.
- Norris hit senior Hunter Kesler (Oakwood/Paulding) on a 23-yard TD pass to make it 28-14 with 5:34 left in the third.
- Defensively, junior Dalton Tjong (Cumming, Ga./West Forsyth) had 12 tackles and an interception and sophomore Myles Aldrich (Lima/Shawnee) had 11 tackles for the Polar Bears.
- HU out-gained ONU in total offense 329-264.
Notables
- The Polar Bears are now 14-6 in home openers at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
- Dean Paul is in his 20th season as head coach of the Polar Bears with a 118-73 career record at ONU.
- ONU leads the all-time series with HU by a 47-4-5 margin, including a 7-3 mark at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
- Today's game was the 13th annual Bendekovic Bowl, which honors the late Ronnie and Jason Bendekovic, who served as assistants at ONU and Heidelberg, respectively. HU now owns an 11-2 record in the series.
Up Next
- The Polar Bears return to action next Saturday when they host Baldwin Wallace at 1:30 pm at Dial-Roberson Stadium.