Ohio Northern overcame five turnovers and a missed 22-yard field goal with 24 seconds left to defeat Muskingum 7-6 in an Ohio Athletic Conference football game at McConagha Stadium on Saturday.
The Polar Bears (5-2 overall, 4-2 Ohio Athletic Conference) were led by sophomore running back Christiaan Williams (Sidney/Anna), who ran 38 times for 168 yards and ONU's only touchdown.
Muskingum (2-5, 1-5/1-6, 0-6) got 172 yards passing and a touchdown by quarterback Brody Hahn.
ONU junior Will Freed (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) completed 16-of-28 passes for 188 yards for ONU.
Clinging to a 7-6 lead late, Northern fumbled the ball at the Muskingum 9-yard line with 2:50 left in the game.
The Muskies promptly marched 86 yards and got to the ONU 3-yard line. But a 22-yard field goal with 24 seconds left was wide right and the Polar Bears escaped with the 7-6 victory.
ONU head coach Dean Paul became the school's all-time career wins leader with his 94th win as a Polar Bear. He entered the game with 93 victories at Ohio Northern and passed Tom Kaczkowski for the top spot on ONU's all-time career wins list.
"Having 94 wins at Ohio Northern is humbling," Paul said. "We have had a lot of very good players over the years. Very good coaches, too. We get great support from the University. It is truly a total team effort. I think we have 11 coaches at ONU right now that are the wins leader for their respective sports. That speaks volumes about what a great place Ohio Northern is."
