Justin Buenger rushes for 96 yards to lead Football in 20-6 loss at Baldwin-Wallace

BEREA — Sophomore Justin Buenger rushed for 96 yards for Ohio Northern, but Baldwin-Wallace gained 293 yards on the ground and got a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown and posted a 20-6 victory on a cool, blustery Saturday afternoon at George Finnie Stadium.

The Polar Bears fall to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 5-1, 4-1.

The contest will be televised tape-delay on SportsTime Ohio Saturday night at 7:30 pm and again Sunday at 3 pm.

Buenger rushed 26 times for 96 yards as ONU rushed for 149 yards in the game.

Seniors Chad Coward and Zack Click led the Polar Bear defense with 10 and 9 tackles, respectively.

The Yellow Jackets got on the scoreboard first when Brett Thompson returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown with 7:37 left in the first quarter.

ONU had marched from its 19 to the BW 13 before sophomore Tyler Rue's pass over the middle was deflected by J.J. Laseak and grabbed by Thompson.

Undaunted, ONU marched 47 yards in 11 plays on its next possession and scored on a 3-yard run by Buenger to pull the Polar Bears within 7-6 with 1:59 left in the first period.

"I was proud of the way we battled back after giving up that early interception," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "Even though we responded with a score, big plays like that In a defensive battle are huge. The wind made it tough for both teams to throw the ball and they tackled better than we did and ran the ball better than we did."

BW went ahead 13-6 on a 9-yard run by Andrew Dziak with 40 seconds left in the opening period.

The Yellow Jackets put the game away with a 22-yard screen pass from Ryan O'Rourke to Josiah Holt with 6:26 left in the game.

Northern's defense held the Yellow Jackets scoreless on three different trips inside the ONU 10-yard line, recovering a fumble, forcing a missed field goal and holding on a fourth and goal from the 1-yard line.

But in the end it was the BW ground attack, which accounted for 293 yards, led by Tyler Lohr's 137, was the difference in the contest.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday at home against John Carroll at 1:30 pm at Dial-Roberson Stadium.