No. 18 Otterbein holds off No. 9 Football 38-36 on rainy day in Westerville

Kyle Simmons

By Tim Glon

| Box Score |

WESTERVILLE -- No. 18 Otterbein held off No. 9 Ohio Northern 38-36 on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The Polar Bears fall to 1-2 overall, 0-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Cardinals improve to 3-0, 2-0.

Trailing 35-17 late in the third period, the Polar Bears rallied for three touchdowns in the final 18 minutes of the game, but the Cardinals held on for a 38-36 victory.

Kyle Simmons had a career day for ONU, rushing 14 times for a career-high 81 yards and two touchdowns and completing 21 of 34 passes for a career-best 256 yards for two more scores.

Brent Donley carried 16 times for 58 yards and a TD for the Polar Bears, as well.

Otterbein was led by Colton Coy, who carried 27 times for 128 yards and a pair of TDs.

The Cardinals scored 35 first half points and converted five of six third downs, to take a 35-17 lead at intermission.

Northern's defense stiffened in the second half and limited OC to just three points.

Northern struck on its first possession when Jake Heaphy drilled a 37-yard field with 2:31 gone in the contest, capping an 8-play, 40-yard scoring drive.

The Cardinals answered quickly, marching 69 yards in just four plays and taking a 7-3 lead on a 5-yard run by Colton Coy with 3:42 gone in the contest.

After an exchange of punts, Kyle Simmons hit Ryan Fleming on a 46-yard TD pass down the right sideline to give the Polar Bears a 10-7 lead with 3:42 left in the opening period.

Otterbein regained the lead when Austin Schlosser hit Eric Yates on a 20-yard TD pass on the second play of the second period, making it 14-10 Cardinals with 14:30 left in the half.

The Cardinals scored again on their next possession, marching 49 yards in five plays. Coy swept in from 29 yards out to make it 21-10 with 10:51 left in the half.

Otterbein linebacker Shane Centers intercepted Simmons just 28 seconds later and returned it 36 yards for a TD and gave OC a 28-10 advantage with 10:23 left in the game.

But the Polar Bears answered, driving 74 yards in 12 plays and scoring when Donley dove over from a yard out to pull ONU within 28-17 with 6:46 left in the first half.

OC made it four touchdowns on its five first half possessions as the Cardinals drove 67 yards in 14 plays, taking 6:11 seconds off the clock, take a 35-17 lead into intermission when Schlosser dove in from 2 yards out with just 20.1 seconds left in the second period.

The Cardinals took 9:03 off the clock to start the third period, marching to the ONU 7-yard line. But Eric Wenzler intercepted Schlosser int he end zone on a third and goal and gave the Polar Bears new life.

Northern then drove 80 yards and pulled within 35-23 when Simmons scored on a 6-yard run with 2:28 left in the third period.The extra point attempt hit the left upright and the score stayed at 35-23.

A sack by Jeremy Wyant stopped OC's ensuing drive and ONU got a 28-yard return by Jay Preist on the punt and took over at the OC 43-yard line.

It took ONU nine plays to find the end zone as Simmons scrambled in from 5 yards out with 9:52 left in the game to pull the Polar Bears within 35-29 after the missed extra point.

OC drove to the ONU 17-yard line before stalling and a 36-yard field goal by David Brewer put the Cardinals up 38-29 with 4:34 left in the game.

The Polar Bears then struck quickly and Simmons hit Michael Busch on a 21-yard pass with 2:57 left in the game to pull Ohio Northern within 38-36.

The ONU defense came up huge when, with 1:44 left to play, Schlosser fumbled on a quarterback sneak at the ONU 43-yard line. Jesse Richards recovered and the Polar Bears had the ball back.

But the Polar Bears fumbled the ball back three plays later and the Cardinals held on for the victory.

Eric Wenzler and Marvin Mitchell each had a career-high 11 tackles to lead the ONU defense.

Ohio Northern will return to action next weekend with its only night contest of the season when the Polar Bears play at Muskingum at 7 pm at McCongaha Stadium.