Season Review: Football takes step in right direction with solid 7-win season in 2017
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern football team enjoyed a solid 7-win season in 2017 under 14th-year head coach Dean Paul.
The Polar Bears, led by sophomore All-American running back Christiaan Williams (Sidney/Anna), posted a 7-3 overall record and finished tied for second in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 6-3 league record.
Northern posted an upper division finish in the league for the 21st time in the past 22 seasons and claimed its 11th winning season in the last 13 years.
"We took a step in the right direction in 2017," Paul said. "It was a season of growth. We need to be more consistent, but we took good steps toward where we want to be. We are knocking at the door of being an elite program."
Williams was named Second Team Little All-America by the Associated Press and by the American Football Coaches Association.
Williams is the first Polar Bear since Wes Hostetler in 2005 to be named to a Little All-America team and became the ninth football player in school history to earn the honor.
His Second Team honor is the second highest honor for a Polar Bear on a Little All-America team, as NFL standout Jason Trusnik was named First Team Little All-America in 2004.
Williams also earned First Team All-Conference honors in each of his two seasons as a Polar Bear and made his first appearance on the All-Region squad. He becomes the 45th football player at ONU to be named an All-American.
This season, Williams led the OAC with 269 rushes, 1,623 rushing yards and 2,016 all-purpose yards. He was also third in the league with 11 rushing touchdowns.
He also had a league-best and school-record 407 rushing yards in a 51-21 victory over Capital on Oct. 7 this season.
In his two seasons at Ohio Northern, Williams ranks seventh all-time in school history with 2,831 rushing yards. He is also 10th with 462 rushing attempts, is third with an average of 6.13 yards per rush and is seventh with 3,567 all-purpose yards.
Senior Cyler Caldwell (Wadsworth) was named First Team Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
He became the first Polar Bear since Andy Roecker in 1997 to be named a First Team Academic All-American.
Caldwell also became only the ninth player in school history to earn Academic All-American status and is the first player to earn the honor since former ONU standout Wes Hostetler in 2005.
The defensive back majoring in Mechanical Engineering, started all 10 games at corner back this season and had 14 starts in his career.
Senior linebacker Zach Schmerge (Wapakoneta) was named Second Team All-North Region by D3football.com
Schmerge is now a 3-time All-Region honoree, earning Second Team honors in 2016 and Third Team in 2015.
He is also a 3-time First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree and has led the Polar Bears in tackles for each of the past three seasons.
This year, he led the team and was fourth in the OAC with 94 tackles.
Schmerge ends his career ranked third all-time in ONU history with 320 career tackles. In 37 career games, he also had 4.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and an interception.
Nine Ohio Northern student-athletes were named All-Ohio Athletic Conference in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches.
Schmerge, Williams and junior receiver Chad Rex (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch) were First Team All-OAC selections.
Caldwell, junior punter Sean Devany (Cuyahoga Falls/St. Vincent-St. Mary), junior offensive tackle Kyle Gonterman (Wapakoneta) and sophomore linebacker Mark Niles (Miramar, Fla.) were Second Team honorees.
Senior offensive guard Nate Jones (Locust Grove, Ga./Community Christian) and junior defensive end Justin Croswell (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North) received Honorable mention All-OAC honors.
An impressive 12 Polar Bears were named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference for the 2017 season.
Three seniors, Caldwell, Landry Hostetler (Strasburg/Strasburg-Franklin) and Carter Kemper (Mariemont) earned the award.
Seven in the junior class, including Ethan Edwards (Urbana), Joe French (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward Central Catholic), Austin Jensen (Mason), Matt Laubscher (Solon), Brenden Medina (Oberlin), Sam Shook (New Philadelphia) and Kurt Wollenhaupt (Delphos/Jefferson), received the honor.
Sophomore Ethan Hale (Galena/Big Walnut) and Anthony McFadden (Chillicothe/Paint Valley) also earned the award.
The award winners must be a sophomore or higher in class standing, maintain varsity status and have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.50.
Junior Will Freed (San Marcos, Calif./Carlsbad) led the Polar Bear passing attack, throwing for 2,026 yards and 20 touchdowns in eight games.
Rex led the receiving corps, catching 51 passes for 926 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Ohio Northern opened its season with a thrilling 35-31 win at Adrian (Mich.)
Williams ran 35 times for 182 yards and a score and Freed completed 21-of-36 passes for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the ONU offense.
Junior Caleb Saalfeld (Modesto, Calif./Fred Beyer) caught a pair of touchdowns passes, including the go-ahead score with 4:39 left in the game.
Caldwell then came up with an interception at the AC 30-yard line with 3:49 remaining and the Polar Bears would run out the clock for the win.
After a loss to Heidelberg, the Polar Bears got back on track with a 35-7 Homecoming victory over Otterbein.
A loss to No. 2-ranked and eventual national champion Mount Union moved ONU to 2-2 on the season, but Paul's troops responded by winning five of their final six games.
Williams had his record-breaking 407-yard performance on a rainy, windy night at Dial-Roberson Stadium to propel the Polar Bears to a 51-21 victory over Capital and start the strong run.
Northern followed that win with a thrilling 27-20 double overtime win at 2016 national semifinalist John Carroll.
Another thrilling game followed in Week 7, when ONU overcame five turnovers and a missed 22-yard field goal in the final minute to edge Muskingum 7-6 in New Concord.
Northern returned home for a third straight close finish, but came up on the down side of a 35-28 decision to Marietta.
In its final road game of the season, Ohio Northern scored on its first six possessions and led 42-12 at halftime, then held off a furious rally to hang on for a 49-45 victory at Wilmington to clinch its 11th winning season in the last 13 years.
In its season finale, Ohio Northern celebrated Senior Day with an impressive 42-25 victory over Baldwin Wallace at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
"We had some important wins during the season," Paul said. "Finishing second in the OAC is a good step and a 7-win season was important. We beat the defending league champs on their own field and got a win in the season finale against a solid program to get to seven wins. Those things are important accomplishments for this =program moving forward."