Senior Chad Coward leads list of 7 Polar Bears named All-OAC in Football

ADA —

Ohio Northern senior Chad Coward (Crestline/Shelby) was named First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference in football for 2011 in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches.

In all, seven Polar Bears were named All-Conference in football.

Juniors Tyler Joseph (Findlay), Kyle Smith (Kirtland) and Cody Kelly (Shreve/Triway) and sophomore Justin Buenger (Hamler/Patrick Henry) were Second Team All-OAC honorees and seniors Trygve Henrikson (Greensburg, Ind.) and Colin Bishop (Trotwood/Chimande-Julienne) were named Honorable Mention All-Conference.

Coward is now a two-time First Team All-OAC award winner, earning the honor as a special teams player last season as a junior.

This season, Coward led the Polar Bears in tackles with 85 and two blocked kicks.

He also had two interceptions, four PBUs, two forced fumbles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Coward led ONU in tackles in each of the past two seasons and ends his career with 201 tackles.

He also ranks seventh all-time at ONU with 11 career interceptions.

Joseph is a two-year starter at right guard and is making his first appearance on the All-Conference squad.

Smith is making his second consecutive appearance as a Second Team All-OAC honoree.

He has started the last 22 games at center for the Polar Bears.

Kelly is now a two-time All-OAC honoree at nose tackle after being named First Team All-Conference as a sophomore in 2010.

He led the Polar Bears with 4.0 tackles and was second with 9.5 TFL this season while posting 35 tackles.

Buenger is making his first appearance on the All-OAC squad and comes in his first year as a starter.

Buenger led ONU in rushing, scoring and all-purpose yards in 2011.

He rushed 151 times for 707 yards and seven touchdowns, scored 48 points and finished with 862 all-purpose yards.

Henrikson is a three-year starter at defensive end and was named All-OAC for the first time this fall.

He finished the 2011 campaign second on the squad with 3.5 sacks and third with 6.5 TFL. He also collected 45 tackles on the year.

Bishop is a two-year starter at left tackle made his first appearance on the All-OAC team in 2011.

The Polar Bears finished the season with a 6-4 record and posted their 16th consecutive upper division finish in the OAC with a 5-4 mark under eighth-year head coach Dean Paul.