WILMINGTON, Ohio – Ohio Northern University (ONU) struck for six first-half touchdowns through the air en route to a 62-27 victory over the Wilmington College football team on Homecoming Weekend on Saturday.
The Polar Bears scored touchdowns on five of their first six drives of the game. Quarterback Brody Hahn found Chase Rose for 36-yard and 56-yard touchdown passes for the first two scores, and the ONU quarterback ended the first quarter with a 38-yard strike to James McDougald. The second quarter would prove much of the same as Hahn connected with Austin Eick for two touchdowns and Jette Morgan for one more.
Trailing 42-0 at halftime, Wilmington put together a much better second 30 minutes, outscoring ONU 27-20 in the second half. Scoring plays for the Fightin' Quakers included a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown by Elijah Carson and three touchdown passes from Derek Larimer – a 60-yarder to Ace Taylor, a 35-yarder to Gavin Foushee and a 15-yarder to Jamaun Clark.
ONU tallied 650 yards of offense including 502 from Hahn through the air, a program record. Hahn also through for seven touchdowns including two each to Rose and Eick, both of which finished with over 100 yards. The Polar Bears were also 12-of-18 on third-down conversions.
Wilmington finished with 332 yards of total offense, 275 coming from Larimer. The first-year starting quarterback went 17-of-35 for 245 yards and three scores in the air and carried 11 times for 30 yards on the ground.
Defensively, Xzerious Stinnett had nine tackles and a sack for the Quaker defense while Carson had two interceptions. Jarod Lee had eight tackles with a pass breakup. For the Polar Bears, Johnny Rupp had a 10-tackle performance.
The victory for ONU avenges a 42-38 defeat the last time it came to Williams Stadium (2019), also a Homecoming Weekend game.
Wilmington (0-2, 0-1 OAC) faces Muskingum University on the road next Saturday. The game will be played at Zanesville High School.
