Recap: Polar Bears say goodbye to successful senior class, build for future in 2012

By Tim Glon

ADA — The Ohio Northern football program posted a 4-6 record and finished sixth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 4-5 league mark in 2012 under ninth-year head coach Dean Paul.

The Polar Bears graduated 24 seniors, who accounted for 28 victories in their four years, which ranks them sixth all-time in 113 years of football at ONU.

Paul also lettered 12 freshman, which is the most during his tenure and should pay dividends in future seasons.

Senior guard Tyler Joseph, senior nose guard Cody Kelly senior running back Carter Paul, senior receiver Justin Wilson and sophomore linebacker Steven Kenny were selected Second Team All-OAC.

Senior center Kyle Smith and junior defensive end Sean Denson were named Honorable Mention All-Conference.

In all, 12 Polar Bears received either All-Conference or Academic All-Conference honors.    

Senior offensive tackle Cullen Zelachowski, junior defensive back Josh Bryan, junior defensive lineman Mike King, sophomore linebacker David Woolley and sophomore tight end Sean Wolf were named Academic All-OAC.

Joseph and Kelly, along with senior defensive back Cory Spelman and director of sports information Tim Glon, represented Team Stars & Stripes in the 2012 Tazon de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars) in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The event is an annual game pitting a team of Division III all-stars against a team of Mexican collegiate all-stars.

The three players helped Team Stars & Stripes defeat Mexico 32-15 in front of a live television audience, watched by millions of people on ESPN2 Deportes throughout Latin America.

Junior offensive lineman Cullen Zelachowski was named First Team Academic All-District by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Senior Tate Humphrey (twice), senior Abrim Mueller, senior punter Kevin Weslosky and freshman receive/kick returner Devon Price were named OAC Players of the Week this year.

The Polar Bears had an exciting season, with four games being decided in the final seconds, including the season opener at North Carolina Wesleyan.

Playing in oppressive heat with temperatures in the upper 90s, NCW kicked a 40-yard field goal in overtime to win 16-13, offsetting the 275-yard total offense effort by junior quarterback Tyler Rue.

It was just the second overtime in Ohio Northern history. Northern edged Otterbein 34-33 on Sept. 17, 2011, in Dial-Roberson Stadium in its first-ever overtime game.

The Polar Bears traveled 619 miles to Rocky Mount, N.C., for the game, making it the second-longest road trip in school history and the longest in 60 years.

Northern's 1952 Mid-Ohio Championship team, coached by the legendary Clyde Lamb, made a 630-mile trek to Arkansas State and suffered a 47-0 loss that afternoon.

The trip was longer than ONU's 593-mile trip to West Point, N.Y., in 1931 to play Army (a 60-0 loss in Harris Lamb's first year as head coach) and a 569-mile road trip to St. Lawrence, N.Y., in 1953 (a 47-13 loss under Clyde Lamb).

Northern returned home to face Heidelberg in the second annual Bendekovic Bowl, where ONU also honored the men and women of our military on Veterans Appreciation Day.

An impressive F-16 flyover highlighted the pregame festivities and the Polar Bears wore camouflage jerseys that were auctioned off at the end of the game to benefit the Ohio Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Polar Bears got on the winning track with a 28-14 victory over Capital when ONU dedicated the impressive England Gate entrance to Dial-Roberson Stadium.

Humphrey was solid in his first career start, completing 15 of 23 passes for 177 yards and two TDs and running 20 times for 64 yards and a third touchdown for Ohio Northern.

ONU led 21-0 at halftime, then held on in the second half for the victory.

The game was delayed for 1 hour, 7 minutes due to lightning with ONU ahead 14-0 with 3:47 left in the second quarter and the ball on the Capital 5-yard line.

The lengthy lightning delay forced the cancellation of halftime and the teams went straight from the end of the second quarter to the start of the third period.

Homecoming proved to be an exciting day as ONU scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left, but a 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete as Baldwin Wallace escaped with a 22-20 win.

Dean Paul picked up his 100th career victory as ONU answered with a convincing 56-14 victory at Marietta.

Humphrey completed 14 of 21 passes for a career-high 271 yards and 3 TDs and Paul ran 23 times for a career-high 121 yards and three scores.

Humphrey also set a single-game school record with a quarterback efficiency rating of 222.21, which is the highest by a Polar Bear quarterback with at least 20 passing attempts.

ONU came up just short in another thriller in its next contest, falling 28-23 as John Carroll held the Polar Bears scoreless on two fourth-quarter drives inside the 5-yard line, including a goal-line stand on the game's final play.

But Northern showed tremendous resiliency, rallying for a 20-19 victory over Muskingum the next week as Humphrey hit senior Anthony Fletcher on a 5-yard TD pass on a fourth-and-goal play with 33 seconds left.

Ohio Northern scored on its first five possessions and cruised to a 51-7 victory over Wilmington on Senior Day the next week.

Humphrey completed 27 of 35 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns in three quarters of work and Carter Paul rushed 17 times for 103 yards and two scores to lead ONU.

Humphrey led the Polar Bears through the air in 2012, completing 134-of-227 passes for 1,830 yards and 18 TDs. Rue completed 44-of-85 passes for 518 yards and two scores.

Carter Paul carried the ball 154 times for 658 yards and five TDs, Humphrey ran 118 times for 225 yards and four TDs and senior DeMarquis Payne ran 49 times for 157 yards and one TD.

Wilson caught 58 passes for 657 yards and eight touchdowns, freshman Devon Price caught 28 passes for 381 yards and two scores and Fletcher caught 22 passes for 311 yards and a score to lead the Ohio Northern receivers.

On defense, Kenny led the Polar Bears with 82 tackles, senior Joe Powell was second with 66 tackles and junior Dillon Kwiat was third with 59 tackles.

Denson and junior Josh Simon led ONU with 9.0 tackles for loss and Denson also had a team-high 6.0 sacks.