By Tim Glon
Ohio Northern scored on all seven of its first half possessions and cruised to an 80-3 Ohio Athletic Conference football victory over Wilmington on Senior Day on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
The Polar Bears (5-4 Overall, 5-3 OAC) rolled up 488 yards of total offense and got a pair of Pick-6s from their defense in the victory.
The Quakers fall to 0-9, 0-8.
Sophomore Quarterback Will Freed (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) completed 15-of-17 passes for 264 yards and five touchdowns in two and a half quarters of play to lead Ohio Northern. He was 12-for-12 for 225 yards and four scores in the first half.
Freshman running back Christiaan Williams (Sidney/Anna) ran 17 times for 103 yards and three scores and did not play in the second half.
He has now surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark in all eight of his collegiate contests and is the first freshman in ONU history to run for 1,000 yards in a season. Thus far this year, Williams has 1,038 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns on 172 attempts.
Senior defensive back Nick Rezek (Macedonia/Nordonia) returned an interception 64 yards for a third quarter touchdown and freshman defensive back Darius Jackson (Orlando, Fla./Boone) had a 32-yard interception return for a score to wrap up the scoring.
Freed hit senior Reed Allen (Whitehouse/Anthony Wayne) on a 54-yard TD pass on ONU's first play from scrimmage and it was 7-0 just 2:38 into the contest.
Freed then hit sophomore receiver Brenden Hadley (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch) on a 30-yard TD pass, Williams ran in from 16 yards out and Freed completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Logan Ray (Van Wert) and ONU led 28-0 after the first quarter.
In the second period, Williams banged in from 3 and 1 yards out for scores and Freed completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Caleb Saalfeld (Modesto, Calif./Beyer) as the Polar Bears led 49-3 at intermission.
Freed hit senior receiver Ryan Love (Bluffton) on a 6-yard TD pass, Rezek had his pick-6 and freshman Nolan Sotka (Aurora) ran in from 12 yards out and Northern led 70-3 after three quarters.
Senior Colin Lombardi (Milan/Edison) made a 41-yard field goal with 14:17 left in the game and Johnson's pick-6 with 1:34 left capped the scoring.
In all, 88 players got into the game for the Polar Bears.
The 80 points was the most for Ohio Northern in a single game since an 84-14 victory over Hiram on October 16, 1993 and is the most points scored in a game in Dial-Roberson Stadium history.
Eric Flynn rushed 21 times for 132 yards to lead the Quakers.
The Polar Bears will wrap up their 2016 season next Saturday with a 2 pm contest at Baldwin Wallace.
