Football falls at No. 22 Heidelberg 37-3 in 12th annual Bendekovic Bowl

By Tim Glon

TIFFIN — Ohio Northern fell at No. 22-ranked Heidelberg 37-3 in the 12th annual Bendekovic Bowl on Saturday night at Hoernemann Stadium.

The Polar Bears drop to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Student Princes improve to 3-0, 2-0.

The "Bendo Bowl", which honors the late brothers Ronnie and Jason Bendekovic, who served as assistant coaches at ONU and Heidelberg, respectively.

On the first snap of the game, junior Ed Manning (Sanford, Fla./Seminole) returned an interception 22 yards to the Heidelberg 30-yard line.

Senior Dom DiFalco (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) kicked a 40-yard field goal to put the Polar Bears ahead 3-0 just 2:55 into the contest.

The Student Princes got a 1-yard TD run by Montavious Yearby and a 40-yard field goal from Brenden Steckel to take a 10-3 lead into intermission.

A HU interception set the ball up at the ONU 10-yard line and Yearby scored from a yard out three plays later and it was 16-3 Heidelberg 2:35 into the third quarter.

T.J. Ramey banged in from 2 yards out to cap a 99-yard scoring drive as the Student Princes went up 23-3 with 2:02 left in the third.

The hosts then scored twice in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Senior Brock Martin (Attica/Seneca East) ran 18 times for 54 yards and senior Trevor McConnell (Detroit, Mich./Cranbrook) completed 11-of-25 passes for 131 yards for ONU.

Defensively, Dalton Tjong (Cumming, Ga./West Forsyth) had 12 tackles and four PBUs and senior Trevon Salter (Atlanta, Ga./Grayson) tied his career-high with 10 tackles to lead the Ohio Northern defense.

Yearby led all rushers with 192 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.

Heidelberg outgained Ohio Northern 325-284 in total offense.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday with a 2 pm contest at Baldwin Wallace.