Season Review: Football posts OAC upper division finish for 20th time in past 21 seasons in 2016

By Caleb Scott

ADA — The Ohio Northern football team posted its 20th upper division finish in the Ohio Athletic Conference in the past 21 seasons in 2016.

Northern posted a 5-5 overall record, including a 5-4 record in the OAC, and finished tied for fourth in the conference standings.

The Polar Bears opened the season as the No. 18-ranked team in the country, marking the 10th time in the last 13 years that Northern has been ranked in the Top 25 during the regular season and the 11th time in the last 13 years that ONU has received votes in the national poll.

Fourteen Ohio Northern players earned All-Conference accolades for their efforts.

Senior wide receiver Reed Allen (Whitehouse/Anthony Wayne) led the group as he was named First Team All-OAC for the second consecutive year.

Senior defensive tackle Scott Rapps (Bay Village/Bay), senior tight end Logan Ray (Van Wert), junior linebacker Zach Schmerge (Wapakoneta), sophomore kicker Joe French (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward Central Catholic) and freshman running back Christiaan Williams (Sidney/Anna) were also named First Team All-OAC.

Seniors Kyle Bergman (Coldwater), Cody Cox (Roanoke, Ind./Homestead), and Dan Eller (Medina), juniors Jason Hundley (Saint Cloud, Fla./Harmony) and Nate Jones (Locust Grove, Ga./Community Christian) and sophomore Will Freed (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) were all named Second Team All-OAC in 2016.

Rapps and Eller represented the Polar Bears on team Stars & Stripes in the 2016 edition of the Tazon de Estrellas.

Rapps ranked fourth on the team with 51 total tackles and led the team with 12.5 tackles for loss for 50 yards.

Rapps was also named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week.

He had a team-high nine sacks, had 5.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, forced a fumble and recovered two fumbles as Northern defeated Otterbein 16-10 in a defensive battle.

Rapps earned Second Team All-North Region honors for the first time in his career.

Ray started all 10 games for Northern and was tied for second on the team this season with 30 receptions and was second on the team with five touchdown catches.

The senior was also a Second Team All-North Region honoree and was named All-Region for the first time in his career.

He played in 36 games with 22 starts in his four seasons as a Polar Bear. He had 43 catches for 527 yards and 8 touchdowns and 35 special teams tackles in his career.

Schmerge, the two-time First Team All-OAC honoree, led the OAC with 103 tackles, including a career-high 20 tackles in the season finale at Baldwin Wallace.

He has played in 26 games with 21 starts in his three seasons as a Polar Bear and has 226 tackles, 4 sacks and 13 TFL.

Schmerge also garnered Second Team All-North Region and earned his first All-Region honor.

French had a historic season as a kicker for the Polar Bears.

The sophomore place kicker earned First Team All-Conference honors after leading the OAC and setting an ONU single-season record with 12 made field goals in 2016.

He was 12-of-16 on field goals and was 36-of-38 on extra points for 72 points in his first season on the ONU varsity.

Williams also posted historic season for the Polar Bears as he rushed for more than 100 yards in all nine of his collegiate games, including a career-high 175 yards in his first outing at Utica (N.Y.) on 9/10/16.

His 9-game 100-yard streak is a school record and he ranks 9th all-time at ONU with his nine 100-yard rushing games.

Williams is the only freshman and the 11th player overall in ONU history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

He gained 1,208 yards on 193 carries and had 12 touchdowns and led the OAC with an average of 134.2 rushing yards per game.

Bergman was named Second Team All-Conference as a punter for the third consecutive season.

This season, he averaged 38.7 yards on 43 punts with 15 dropped inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

He saw action in 36 games as a punter and ranks 6th in ONU history with an average of 37.93 yards per punt and had 37 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Cox has started 40 games at linebacker in his four seasons as a Polar Bear.

He had 27 tackles and an interception this season and had 159 tackles in his career.

Eller is now a two-time Second Team All-OAC honoree with 29 career starts at safety.

This season, he was second on the team and was sixth in the OAC with 80 tackles.

In 36 career games Eller posted 242 tackles, which ranks him ninth all-time in ONU history.

Hundley started all 10 games this season at defensive end.

He was eighth on the team with 28 tackles and was second with 5.5 sacks and 9.5 TFL this season.

In 22 career games (with 14 starts), Hundley has 66 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 16.5 TFL.

Jones started all 10 games at right guard this season after moving from the defensive side of the ball in his first two seasons at ONU.

He is making his first appearance on the All-OAC team.

Freed is a two-year starter at quarterback and was second in the OAC with 2,330 passing yards this season.

He completed 190-of-324 passes for 23 touchdowns and had a 137.54 efficiency rating this year.

Freed ranks ninth all-time at Ohio Northern with 3,781 passing yards and has thrown for more than 200 yards in a game 10 times in his 15 career starts.

Senior Mike Cunningham (North Royalton) started all 10 games at defensive tackle this season and is now a two-time Honorable Mention All-Conference selection.

This season, he had 28 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 5.5 TFL.

Cunningham played in 38 games with 34 starts and has 118 tackles, 12 TFLs, and 4.5 sacks in his career.

Junior Christian Randolph (Tallahassee, Fla./FAMU HS) was named All-OAC Honorable Mention after starting all 10 games at corner in his first season in the starting lineup and finishing the season with 43 tackles, two interceptions and 11 PBUs.

Northern saw 13 players earn Academic All-OAC honors.

Rapps, French, juniors Cyler Caldwell (Wadsworth), Jason Lucas (North Ridgeville), Carter Kemper (Mariemont), Landry Hostetler (Strasburg/Franklin), Ethan Edwards (Urbana) and sophomores Lucas Huber (Van Buren), Austin Jensen (Mason), Matt Laubscher (Solon), Brenden Medina (Oberlin), Joe Rinicella (Solon), and Kurt Wollenhaupt (Delphos/Jefferson) each earned the honor.

ONU earned 10 OAC Player of the Week recognitions as Williams was named Offensive Player of the Week three times, French was named Special Teams Player of the Week three times, Rapps earned two Defensive Player of the Week honors and Freed and Schmerge were named Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.

The Polar Bears opened the season with a hard fought 34-30 loss at Utica (N.Y.), before falling 45-14 at Heidelberg.

Northern rallied with a 16-10 victory over Otterbein in which Rapps' fumble recovery in the end zone helped lift Northern to its first victory of the season.

After falling to eventual national semifinalist Mount Union, ONU rattled off four victories in five games including victories over Capital, Muskingum, Marietta and Wilmington.

The Polar Bears took eventual national semifinalist John Carroll to the wire as the Blue Streaks won a close 20-16 decision.

Northern would fall in the season finale at Baldwin Wallace 31-21.

ONU will open the 2017 campaign at Adrian (Mich.) in the first of a home and home series over the next two years.