Brent Donley has record-setting effort, plows No. 20 Football past John Carroll 35-14

Brent Donley

By Tim Glon

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ADA —  Brent Donley set an Ohio Northern record with 44 rushing attempts and gained a career-high 287 yard and a pair of touchdowns, leading the No. 20-ranked Polar Bears to a 35-14 victory over John Carroll Saturday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.

ONU improves to 5-2 overall and is 4-2 in Ohio Athletic Conference action, while the Blue Streaks fall to 3-4, 3-3.

Donley's 287 yards rushing is the third-most in a game in ONU history, 20 shy of the school-record 307 by Jamal Robertson against Marietta in 2000.

His 44 rushing attempts bettered the previous school record of 41 set by Robertson against John Carroll in 1999.

Donley dominated the game from the onset, carrying the ball on all seven plays as ONU marched 61 yards for a TD on its first possession, going up 7-0 with 3:27 gone in the contest when he swept in from 4 yards out.

A large majority of his runs in the contest came between the tackles.

After a JCU punt, Donley carried the ball on five of the six plays in ONU's second possession and scored on a 17-yard run to make it 14-0 with6:25 left in the opening period.

Donley carried the ball on 15 of Ohio Northern's first 16 plays, gaining 122 yards and two TDs - all in the first period.

Donley had 26 carries for 171 yards in the first half.

"Brent had a great day," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "Our offensive line did a great job of making things happen up front. Our guys opened up some big holes, but whenever the O-Line missed an assignment, Donley made the guy miss and still got some yards. John Carroll has a good defense, so we are very happy with our success up front."

Northern opened the second half by marching 58 yards (30 of which came on five Donley runs) in 13 plays to go up 21-0 when Kyle Simmons hit Justin Linzy on a 14-yard TD pass with 9:43 left in the third.

The TD was the first career score by Linzy.

JCU would get on the board on its first possession of the third period, scoring when Aaron Schecter scrambled in from 7 yards out with 2:45 left in the third, making it a 21-7 contest.

Northern would answer with an another Simmons to Linzy touchdown pass, this one a 15-yarder, to make it 28-7 ONU with 14:20 left in the contest.

Donley would gain 53 yards on six carries in the scoring drive.

Again the Blue Streaks would answer on their next possession, marching 57 yards in seven plays and scoring on a 3-yard run by Jeff Javorek to pull JCU within 28-14 with 11:31 left in the game.

Seven Donley carried for 33 yards on ONU's next possession got the ball to the JCU 14-yard line and Simmons put ONU up 35-14 with 6:29 left in the game with a TD strike to Michael Busch.

Jesse Richards had a game-high nine tackles and Vince Calloway had four tackles and two interceptions to lead the ONU defense.

Javorek finished the game 20 of 34 passing for 181 yards and ran for a team-high 43 yards on 10 attempts.

ONU out-gained JCU 392-351 in total offense and had the ball for 32:35 in the contest.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday night when Baldwin-Wallace comes to Dial-Roberson Stadium for Senior Day. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 pm. The game will be shown tape-delayed on Sports Time Ohio television.