Football: Ohio Northern (2-1 Overall, 1-1 OAC) at #2 Mount Union (3-0 Overall, 2-0 OAC)
Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, 1:30 pm - Mount Union Stadium, Alliance, Ohio
Saturday's Contest: Saturday is the second road game of the 2017 season for Ohio Northern, which is in its 123rd football season. It is also Homecoming Weekend at Mount Union.
ONU Head Coach Dean Paul: Paul in his 14th season at ONU with a 91-46 record. He is 131-58 in 18 seasons overall and is 1-12 against MtU.
MtU head coach Vince Kehres: Kehres is in his 5th season at MtU with a 58-4 record. He is 4-0 vs. Ohio Northern.
ONU Last Week: Ohio Northern celebrated its Homecoming Weekend with a 35-7 victory over Otterbein in Ada. The Polar Bears used a dominating second half in the victory, holding the Cardinals to just 40 yards of total offense and one first down in the final 30 minutes. Meanwhile the ONU offense would gain 243 yards of offense and score 22 points in the second half to put the game away. QB Will Freed completed 28-of-33 passes for 311 yards and 4 TDs, WR Chad Rex caught 6 passes for 140 yards and 3 of those TDs and RB Christiaan Williams ran 32 times for 162 yards and a TD. ONU out-gained OU 496-142 and held the ball for 38:07.
ONU Leaders: The ONU running game is led by All-OAC RB Christiaan Williams (88 att, 417 yards, 2 TDs). All-OAC QB Will Freed is 72-of-101 passing for 895 yards and 10 TDs. WR Chad Rex (20 rec, 385 yards, 7 TDs), RB Rodney Holmes (17 rec, 131 yards) and RB Christiaan Williams (15 rec, 103 yards) lead the receiving corps. LB Mark Niles, S Greg Dennis and LB Zach Schmerge lead the defense with 23, 18 and 17 tackles, respectively. DL Justin Croswell leads the team with 2.0 sacks.
MtU Last Week: A pair of MtU running backs went over 100 yards on the ground as the No. 2-ranked Purple Raiders beat Baldwin Wallace 55-7 in Alliance. RB Josh Petruccelli made his first career start at running back and had 127 yards on 13 carries while RB Jawanza Evans-Morris had 102 yards on the ground. QB D'Angelo Fulford threw 3 TD passes in the first half – two to WR Braeden Friss -- as he finished 10-of-12 for 188 yards passing. The Raider defense held BW to 90 yards in the first half as LB Charlie Dear had 9.0 tackles and 1.5 sacks for the game to pace the unit.
MtU Leaders: The MtU running game is led by RB Josh Petruccello (27 att, 252 yards, 2 TDs) and RB Jawanza Evans-Morris (24 att, 209 yards, 2 TDs). QB D'Angelo Fulford is 38 of 51 passing for 676 yards and 11 TDs. WR Justin Hill (11 rec., 226 yards, 5 TDs) and WR Braeden Friss (11 rec., 134 yards, 3 TDs) lead the MtU receivers. S Austin White, LB Charlie Dear and LB Danny Robinson lead the defense with 19, 17 and 16 tackles, respectively. DL Elijah Berry leads MtU with 2.0 sacks. MtU led 20-0 after the first quarter, 27-0 at halftime and 41-0 after three periods.
Last Year's Game: ONU rolled up 468 yards of total offense and made nine trips into Mt Union territory, but miscues and missed opportunities proved costly in a 38-21 loss to the top-ranked Purple Raiders in Ada. The Polar Bears got 337 yards passing from QB Will Freed and 128 yards rushing from RB Christiaan Williams. WR Malachi Nolletti and S Jason Lucas each had career days for ONU. Nolletti had career-highs of 6 receptions for 127 yards and a TD and Lucas had a career-high 14 tackles and returned a fumble 26 yards to set up a score. Northern scored on just two of five trips into the red zone, while Mt Union used a 100-yard pick six and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score on a bad punt snap to remain undefeated on the season. Northern out-gained Mount 468-373 in the game, had 25 first downs to 21 for MtU and held the ball for 32:19 in the game
ONU Statistical Leaders:
Rushing Yds. |
Passing Yds. |
Receiving Yds. |
Tackles | Sacks | ||||||||||||||
1. | Williams | 417 | 1. | Freed | 895 | 1. | Rex | 385 | 1. | Niles | 23 | 1. | Croswell | 2.0 | ||||
2. | Holmes | 33 | 2. | McFadden | 8 | 2. | Holmes | 131 | 2. | Schmerge | 18 | 2. | Niles | 1.0 | ||||
3. | Devany | 11 | 3. | Nolletti | 113 | 3. | Dennis | 17 |
All-Time Series: MtU leads the series between the two schools by a 42-14-1 margin. MtU has won 11 straight since a 21-14 ONU victory at MtU in 2005. MtU is 24-8 at home overall and is 7-0 in its Homecoming games against ONU.
Tickets: Tickets are priced at $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and non-OAC students and children.