ADA, Ohio – Ohio Northern University (ONU) scored a touchdown on the last two possessions of the first half and the first two possessions of the second half to lead the Polar Bears to a 49-16 victory over the Wilmington College football team in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) action on Saturday afternoon.
ONU received the opening kickoff and thought it scored a touchdown until an illegal forward pass penalty negated a 39-yard score. Later in the drive, Wilmington made the Polar Bears pay as Que Taylor forced a fumble that was recovered by Tavion Bryant.
After a Fightin' Quaker three-and-out, the Polar Bears got on the scoreboard with a 12-play, 65-yard drive capped by a one-yard score from Brock Martin. On the next drive, it was Wilmington's turn to have a touchdown called back due to penalty. Kyle Barrett found AJ Hightower for a 72-yard touchdown, only to see a holding call turn the score into a 16-yard gain. Four plays later, the Quaker offense faced a 3rd-and-10, but Barrett found DJ Chambers on a well-timed screen pass. Chambers made a man miss and outran the defense for a touchdown.
Wilmington got the ball back with the score tied 7-7 after stopping Martin for no gain on 4th-and-one, but were forced to punt on after a three-and-out. ONU's offense would score on its final two possessions of the first half to take a 21-7 lead into halftime.
The Quakers drove the ball to nearly midfield to open the second half, but were forced to punt. Despite Aaron Johnston's punt pinning ONU at its 13-yard line, the Polar Bears scored in two plays to stretch their lead to 28-7. Wilmington responded with a 37-yard field goal from Tyler Butcher, but another touchdown from ONU put the game out of reach.
Wilmington did score on its final possession of the game as Barrett found Zayne Hart for a five-yard score to cap a 13-play, 75-yard score.
"I was happy with the fight in our guys today, but certainly the execution was not consistent enough to be successful against a program like ONU," Head Coach Bryan Moore said. "We will learn some valuable lessons from today, get back to work and keep moving forward!"
ONU held a 610-386 edge in yardage gained including a 357-151 edge in rushing yards. Also notable, the Polar Bears converted 9-of-13 times on third down while the Quakers were 4-of-13.
Individually, Barrett finished 16-of-35 for 235 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ace Taylor hauled in four passes for 90 yards while Chambers led Wilmington in rushing with 10 attempts for 60 yards.
Anthony McFadden complete 15-of-22 passes for 253 yards and three scores along with rushing for 78 yards. A.J. Marks and Martin both rushed for over 100 yards for ONU while Chad Rex hauled in nine receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, Tre-Quez Parks led Wilmington with eight tackles while Dusty Lykins and seven and Michael Vargo six. ONU's Mark Niles had 10 tackles.
Wilmington, for the first time this season, will play at home next weekend as Muskingum University comes to Williams Stadium for a 2 p.m. contest as part of homecoming weekend.
