Saturday's Contest: Ohio Northern will kickoff its 124th season of football on Saturday in the season opener of the 2018 season for both teams. ONU is 533-492-36 in his first 123 seasons, a winning percentage of .518. ONU is 19-5 in its last 24 season openers and is 65-53-5 all-time in its 123 previous season openers.
ONU Head Coach Dean Paul: Paul is in his 15th season at ONU with a 96-48 record. Paul is ONU's all-time winningest coach in ONU football history. He is 135-60 in 18 seasons overall and is 1-0 against AC.
AC head coach Jim Deere: Deere is in his 9th season at AC with a 52-30 record. He is 0-1 against ONU.
ONU Season Preview: | Click Here for Complete Season Preview | The Polar Bears posted a solid 7-3 mark and were second in the OAC with a 6-3 league record in 2017. ONU posted its 21st upper division finish in the league in the past 22 seasons and claimed its 11th winning season in the last 13 years. ONU welcomes back 14 starters (8 on offense and 6 on defense) and 38 lettermen from last year's squad. The ONU offense features returning QB Anthony McFadden, 4 receivers and 6 offensive linemen with starting experience. The offense is led by All-OAC honorees WR Chad Rex and OT Kyle Gonterman. Defensively, DE Justin Croswell and LB Mark Niles return as All-Conference honorees from a year ago. All-OAC P Sean Devany and K Chase Watson both return on special teams.
ONU Leaders: The ONU running game was led in 2017 by All-American RB Christiaan Williams (269 att, 1,623 yards, 11 TDs). QB Anthony McFadden was 25-of-39 passing for 406 yards and 6 TDs and QB Will Freed was 155-of-259 passing for 2,026 yards and 20 TDs. WR Chad Rex (51 rec, 926 yards, 14 TDs), RB Christiaan Williams (38 rec, 393 yards) and WR Malachi Nolletti (34 rec, 423 yards, 4 TDs) led the receiving corps. LB Zach Schmerge, LB Mark Niles and S Andrew Valenti lead the defense with 94, 90 and 72 tackles, respectively. DL Justin Croswell led the team with 5.0 sacks.
AC Season Preview: Adrian posted a 5-5 overall record and finished third in the MIAA with a 4-2 mark in 2017. The Bulldogs will look to RB Emmanuel Stewart for impact on offense in 2018, after the 3-time 1st-Team All-MIAA pick scored 18 TDs and racked up 1,367 yards last season. Also returning for Adrian are first-team All-MIAA WR Jerron McGaw, LB Lawrence Austin, and DB Chris Adams. McGaw also earned 3rd Team All-North Region honors by D3football.com with school records of 10 TD catches and 1,233 yards receiving. Austin (51 tackles) and Adams (58) spearhead the defense.
AC Leaders: The AC running game was led in 2017 by RB Emmanuel Stewart (212 att, 1367 yards, 18 TDs) and RB David Nutter (164 att, 939 yards, 7 TDs). QB Clayton Uecker was 110-of-180 passing for 1,811 yards and 16 TDs. WR Jerron McGraw (70 rec, 1233 yards, 10 TDs) and RB Emmanuel Stewart (27 rec, 297 yards, 2 TDs) lead the AC receivers. DB Chris Adams, DL Damon Fuller, LB Tim McPhee and LB Lawrence Austin led the defense with 58, 52, 51 and 51 tackles, respectively. DL Jacob Clark led AC with 6.5 sacks.
Last Year's Game: WR Caleb Saalfeld caught a 6-yard TD pass with 4:39 left in the game to lead ONU to a 35-31 victory at Adrian in the 2017 season opener for both teams. RB Christiaan Williams ran 35 times for 182 yards and a score and QB Will Freed completed 21-of-36 passes for 295 yards and 3 TDs and WR Chad Rex caught 6 passes for 101 yards to lead the ONU offense. LB Mark Niles led the ONU defense with 12 tackles and a 16-yard pick-6. Ohio Northern out-gained Adrian 474-401 in total offense. Emmanuel Stewart ran for 106 yards and 2 TDs and Jerron McGraw caught 9 passes for 154 yards and a score for AC.
