Football picks up 38-24 OAC road victory at Capital
By Tim Glon
COLUMBUS -- Sophomore Devon Price blocked a punt for a touchdown and caught an 80-yard TD pass to lead Ohio Northern to a 38-24 victory at Capital Saturday afternoon at Bernlohr Stadium.
The Polar Bears improve to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference action, while the Crusaders fall to 1-2, 1-1.
Junior Patrick Angle completed 17-of-24 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns and sophomore William Bodden rushed 21 times for 130 yards and a TD to lead the ONU offense.
Senior Dillon Kwiat had a career-high 15 tackles for the ONU defense.
"That was just a good football game," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "It was important for us to maintain our poise and continue to make plays throughout the game and we did that. Capital is a good football team that is very difficult to defend with the way they run the football. But our ability to respond to adversity was huge."
Northern took a 14-7 lead with 9:34 left in the first half when Price blocked a CU punt and senior Justin Buenger recovered the ball in the end zone for a TD.
Angle then hit Price on an 80-yard touchdown pass on ONU's next play from scrimmage and the Polar Bears led 21-7 with 5:42 left before the half.
Freshman Matt Deter missed the first two games due to injury, but made his first appearance as a Polar Bear a memorable one.
Deter drilled a school-record 52-yard field goal on his first collegiate play to give ONU a 31-17 lead with 2:50 left to play in the third quarter.
His bomb broke the previous record of 50 yards by Jake Heaphy in 2009.
Capital struck first when Chase Longwell threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Zak Wirick with 5:20 left in the opening period.
But the Polar Bears answered, marching 64 yards in eight plays to tie the game at 7-7 when Angle hit Buenger on an 8-yard TD pass with 2:13 left in the opening period.
Capital pulled within 21-14 when Longwell snuck in from 1-yard out with 1:40 left in the half.
After the ensuing kickoff, ONU executed its 2-minute drill to perfection, marching 75 yards in 10 plays. Angle hit senior Kyle Baker on a 12-yard TD pass with 26 seconds left before halftime and ONU led 28-14 at intermission.
Northern fumbled on its own 19-yard line on the third play of the second half, but the defense held and the Crusaders settled for a 31-yard field goal by Travis Bosanac with 11:43 left in the period to make it a 28-17 game.
CU pulled within 31-24 on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Longwell to Bo Hardy on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Polar Bears answered with a 14-play, 74-yard drive that milked 7:37 off of the clock and resulted in a 2-yard run by Bodden to put ONU ahead 38-24 with 7:07 left in the game.
"We responded with a score each time they put pressure on us," Paul said. "The field goal by Deter was a huge play, as was the blocked punt, the 80-yard pass and the big drive in the fourth quarter after they got within seven. I'm just very proud of the way we competed today."
Ohio Northern out-gained Capital 378-314 in total offense.
The Polar Bears will return home next weekend to host No. 1-ranked Mount Union in a 1:30 pm contest at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
ONU will dedicate the new Bill Robinson Field with a ceremony prior to the game.
