Football opens Ohio Athletic Conference play with loss at #12 Heidelberg
By Tim Glon
TIFFIN -- Ohio Northern opened the Ohio Athletic Conference portion of its schedule with a 55-27 loss at No. 12-ranked Heidelberg Saturday afternoon at Mayer Field.
The Polar Bears fall to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in OAC play, while the Student Princes improve to 2-0, 1-0.
Northern struck first when sophomore Andrew DiMario connected on a 34-yard field goal attempt with just 1:31 gone in the game.
Senior Zach Runzo set up the score with an interception on the third play of the game.
Later, DiMario hit on a 28-yard field goal with 2:47 left in the half to pull ONU within 27-6.
Northern drove into Heidelberg territory on five of its first six possessions of the first half, but came away with only the two DiMario field goals.
Meanwhile, the Student Princes scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions and led 34-6 at halftime.
"I thought we played pretty well early on, but just gave up too many big plays," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "We were inside their 30-yard line four times in the first half and only got six points. Then they hit some big plays and it got away from us."
The Polar Bears were led by junior Patrick Angle, who completed 23-of-33 passes for 178 yards and a score.
ONU marched 73 yards in 11 plays on its first possession of the second half and scored on a 14-yard TD pass from Angle to senior Ryan Malone to pull with 34-12 four minutes into the third quarter.
But HU extended its streak of touchdown drives to eight possessions and put the game away in the second half.
Sophomore Connor Devine came off the bench to direct ONU on an 8-play, 81-yard drive. Sophomore Justin Magazine plowed over from 7 yards out for the touchdown and Devine hit sophomore Matt Craven for the 2-point conversion and ONU was within 55-20 with 7:04 left in the game.
He then hit Craven on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 2:06 left in the game to wrap up the scoring.
Heidelberg was led by Michael Mees, who completed 13-of-23 passes for 304 yards and TD passes of 12, 53, 20 and 73 yards.
On the ground, Cartel Brooks rushed nine times for 143 yards and two TDs and Bryan Lacey ran 10 times for 104 yards and a pair of scores for HU.
The Student Princes got on the board on their third possession of the game, marching 84 yards in 13 plays and scoring on a 12-yard pass from Mees to Ethan Kindle.
ONU marched to the HU 27-yard line on its next possession, but turned the ball over on downs.
Brooks busted up the middle and raced 73 yards for a score on the next play from scrimmage and HU led 20-3 with 9:39 left in the half.
HU out-gained ONU 572-373 in total offense.
The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday with a 2 pm contest at Capital.