Game Notes (PDF)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio—The Otterbein University football team, in the hunt for back-to-back winning seasons, closes out the regular season at Ohio Northern University this Saturday in Ada. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Dial-Roberson Stadium.
Otterbein, 8-2 in 2012, has turned in winning seasons in four of the last five years.
The Cardinals, 5-4 overall, share fourth place in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) with Baldwin Wallace University, each 5-3 in the OAC. The Polar Bears, 5-4 overall, sit sixth in the conference at 4-4.
Otterbein, under second-year head coach Tim Doup, heads into the game off a 29-21 win over Marietta College last Saturday at home. Otterbein’s special teams accounted for the margin of victory, blocking a Marietta field goal for a touchdown and scoring a safety on a Marietta punt return. Sophomore running back Drew Ervin just missed the 100-yard rushing mark, rushing for 95 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
“There has been nothing easy this year,” said Doup about his team’s recent wins over Marietta and Capital University. “We’ve had to fight and scratch for everything and it’s going to be the same way against Ohio Northern, a real good team. That’s just the way it has been this year.”
The Polar Bears, under head coach Dean Paul, who is in his tenth season at Ohio Northern, defeated Wilmington College, 52-10, last Saturday in Wilmington. Junior quarterback Patrick Angle completed 21 of 26 pass attempts for 276 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Angle was named OAC “offensive player of the week.”
Ohio Northern heads into the game a winner in three of its last four outings. In addition to Wilmington, the Polar Bears have defeated Marietta, 45-0, and Muskingum University, 49-7, over the last month.
“Northern is very good,” Doup said. “I think they are playing their best football right now. They started off a little slow. They are young like we are. They run a similar offense that we do. The Angle kid is back there, and I think he is feeling more comfortable. They have some speed, but they are young up front.
“Defensively,” Doup continued, “they are twisting, stunting and blitzing all the time. They try to confuse you a lot.”
Otterbein is 3-2 against Ohio Northern over the last five seasons. Last season in Westerville, the Cardinals scored the game’s first 17 points on their way to a 24-13 victory over Ohio Northern.
“I told the team flat out that if we can stop the run, and we can score in the red zone—if we can do both of those—we will have a great shot on Saturday,” Doup said.
