Regardless of the names on the roster, Ohio Northern has a distinct personality for its football team year in and year out, and this season is no different.
"Ohio Northern is Ohio Northern," said WC interim head coach Jay Niswonger. "They are a big, physical, methodical football team. Defensively, they can give us some problems."
He added that the Polar Bears' defensive front would unleash stunts and twists unlike any team they have faced this season.
Ohio Northern comes into Saturday's game off a thrilling 20-19 victory over Muskingum that improve its record to 3-5 overall, 3-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Polar Bears are sixth in scoring offense (20.9 ppg) and scoring defense (26.2 ppg) this season.
They are led by senior quarterback Tate Humphrey, who is completing 56 percent of his passes (88-of-157) for 1,196 yards. He has thrown for 12 touchdowns with six interceptions, while his four rushing scores lead the Polar Bears. The 5-11 signal caller is accounting for 43 percent of ONU's offensive output between his 157 pass attempts and the 96 rushes.
His main target is senior Justin Wilson, who has 43 catches for 463 yards with six touchdowns. Freshman Devon Price has 22 receptions for 305 yards, while senior Frank Thien is second on the team with four touchdowns on just 11 catches.
Senior running back Carter Paul is the main rushing threat with 119 carries for 478 yards and three touchdowns. He has yet to put the ball on the ground in this 119 rushing attempts.
Wilmington will be looking to finish the season strong and build on the win they had two weeks ago. For Niswonger, the victory wasn't an end all, be all situation. The Quakers are coming off a game in which they forced five turnovers, but only scored on one of those takeaways.
"We had a game plan to make them turn the ball over, and we did that," said Niswonger. "We have to be more consistent offensively. Even with the victory, we didn't play well on offense."
Quarterback Brandon Arehart continues to climb the WC passing charts. On the season, he is 96-of-195 (49.2 percent) with four touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Defensively, freshman Nick Williams has stepped into the starting lineup and made a huge impact. He has recorded double-figure tackles in both of his starts, and has a total of six tackles for loss.