Football rallies with big second half, wins Bendo Bowl with 34-20 victory over Heidelberg on Homecoming Weekend

By Tim Glon

ADA -- Ohio Northern came roaring back from a 13-3 deficit to post a 34-20 victory over Heidelberg on Saturday during Homecoming Weekend at Dial-Roberson Stadium.

ONU improves to 2-1 overall and is 1-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the Student Princes fall to 0-3, 0-2.

Trailing 13-3 in the final minute of the first half and facing a 4th-and-1 from its own 48-yard line, Ohio Northern head coach Dean Paul gambled.

It paid off when freshman Will Freed hit junior Reed Allen over the top on a 52-yard touchdown pass to pull ONU within 13-10 with 27 seconds left in the half.

HU extended its lead to 20-10 on its first possession of the second half.

But it was all Ohio Northern after that as the hosts scored the final 24 points to win the game.

The game was also Northern's first victory in the Bendekovic Bowl series, played annually by Ohio Northern and Heidelberg in memory of the late brothers Ron and Jason Bendekovic, who passed away while serving as assistant coaches for ONU and HU, respectively.

Allen finished the day with four catches for a career-high 170 yards and a TD and senior Justin Magazine rushed 26 times for 154 yards and a score for ONU. Freed completed 15-of-27 passes for 274 yards and two scored and ran 11 times for 10 yards and a touchdown.

"The play at the end of the half was huge," Paul said. "It was a gamble that paid off. I was proud of the way we hung in there and battled. Our defense kept us in the game until our offense got rolling. We did a good job of converting our scoring opportunities this week and we were able to finish the game."

It was all Heidelberg early on, as the Student Princes drove inside the ONU 30-yard line on five of its first six possessions.

But the ONU defense held HU to just 13 points to stay within striking distance.

Senior Matt Chaney got Ohio Northern on the board with a 46-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter to make it 10-3.

Trailing 13-3 with 1:40 left in the half, ONU marched 99 yards in five plays, capped by the big 52-yard pass from Freed to Allen, to get within 13-10 at intermission.

Trailing 20-10, the Polar Bears got within 20-17 when Freed hit Allen on a 75-yard pass, then ran the final five yards on the next play to account for the 2-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

After a trade of punts, senior Darnell Bloom intercepted a pass to give ONU the ball at the HU 33-yard line.

Freed hit junior Logan Ray on a 4-yard TD pass to give Ohio Northern its first lead of the game at 24-20 with 17 seconds left in the third period.

Northern got the ball back quickly and marched 60 yards in four plays for another score. Magazine busted a 37-yard run up the middle to the 1-yard line, then plowed over for the score on the next play and it was 31-20 Polar Bears with 12:26 left in the game.

Senior Andrew DiMario nailed a 27-yard field goal with 1:49 left to play to ice the game.

Sophomore Zach Schmerge tied a career-high with 16 tackles and junior Dan Eller added a career-high 12 tackles to lead the ONU defense.

Heidelberg was led offensively by Bryan Lacey, who ran 31 times for 164 yards, and by Jon Sandwisch, who completed 21-of-37 passes for 290 yards and a TD and ran for 25 yards and another score.

HU out-gained ONU 500-442 in total offense.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday with their first road game of the season, a 1:30 pm contest at No. 10-ranked John Carroll.