Box Score Box Score
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinals sent their seniors off on a high-note with a 24-13 win over Ohio Northern University Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Otterbein University wraps up a very successful regular season at 8-2 overall, 7-2 in the highly competitive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). The Polar Bears conclude their 2012 campaign at 4-5 in the OAC, 4-6 overall.
The Cardinals used a total-team effort on both sides of the ball and special teams to defeat Ohio Northern.
Defensively, Otterbein finished the game with nine sacks and limited the Polar Bears to just 21 yards rushing on 36 carries. The Cardinal defense also recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.
For the first time all season on offense, Otterbein finished the game with more rushing yards (172) than passing yards (168). As usual this season the Cardinals held the advantage in time of possession, notably a total of 10 minutes and 34 seconds in the fourth quarter alone.
Special teams also shined for Otterbein in the win. The Cardinals blocked two Polar Bear punts, blocked a field goal attempt, recovered a fumble on a kickoff, and sophomore place-kicker Nick Ganus connected on a career-long 44-yard field goal.
The Tan and Cardinal used big plays in the first half to jump out to an early advantage. On Otterbein's second possession of the game, junior quarterback Ben Sizemore connected with classmate Steven Carpenter on a 49-yard catch-and-run touchdown to put the Cardinals up 7-0 with 3:16 left in the first quarter.
Otterbein used a bit of trickery on their second score. Senior running back Brock Burzanko took a pitch to the right side for what appeared to be a minimal gain at best. Burzanko pulled the ball down and tossed a perfect pass to fellow senior Chris Irwin who scampered out of the reach of a Polar Bear defender and went 61 yards for a touchdown. The extra point by sophomore place-kicker Alana Gaither and Ganus’ field goal made the score 17-0 with 3:59 left in the second quarter.
Northern made things interesting when senior quarterback Tate Humphrey connected with classmate Justin Wilson on a 52-yard touchdown to pull the Polar Bears within 10 points headed into halftime.
Otterbein pulled away when Sizemore eluded the Ohio Northern defense for a 19-yard touchdown run to put the Cardinals up 24-7 just under a minute into the fourth quarter. The touchdown immediately followed a sack by senior linebacker Wes McKeever that forced a fumble recovered by Otterbein.
Sizemore finished the afternoon with 107 yards passing on 6-of-14 attempts. He also ran for a team-high 53 yards on 15 carries.
Carpenter led the Cardinal receivers with four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. Senior Trey Fairchild concluded his Otterbein career with two catches for 18 yards.
On defense, junior defensive ends Zach Grieves and Pat Seesholtz terrorized the Polar Bears all day. Grieves finished the afternoon with team-highs of 10 tackles and three sacks to pace the defense. His counterpart, Seesholtz, had two sacks and blocked a punt.
Junior defensive back Alex Cameron led the secondary with six tackles, including two tackles for loss.
The Cardinals honored 20 football seniors and their parents prior to kickoff. With the game at hand and under a minute left in the fourth quarter, Otterbein senior quarterback Aaron Kingcade took the final snap and then took a knee to seal the Cardinal victory. Kingcade led the Cardinals to a 5-0 start and a win over then No. 15 Baldwin Wallace University before suffering an injury in game six against Heidelberg University.
Otterbein now awaits to see if they will be selected for the NCAA Division III playoffs which begin next Saturday.
