Late interception by senior A.J. DeSousa lifts Football to thrilling 41-35 victory at Wilmington

WILMINGTON — Senior A.J. DeSousa (DeBary, Fla./University) intercepted a pass near the goal line with three seconds left to seal a thrilling 41-35 shootout victory at Wilmington on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (2-1 Overall, 2-0 OAC), Wilmington (1-3 Overall, 0-3 OAC)
• Venue: Williams Stadium - Wilmington, Ohio.

The Game

• DeSousa's pick at the ONU 5-yard line with just three seconds left to ice the game.
• Senior Louie Blasiole (Mantua/Crestwood) ran a career-high 32 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns as the Polar Bears rolled up 572 yards of total offense.
• Junior Jordan Pettaway (Oregon/Clay) ran 6 times for 68 yards and a 58-yard TD score.
• Senior Sam Feldman (Springboro) completed 18-of-27 passes for 293 yards and a score.
• Junior Kyle Celestin (Miami, Fla./Surge Academy) caught five passes for a career-best 98 yards.
• Northern scored on its first three possessions, marching 54, 59 and 58 yards, to grab a 21-7 lead just 10 minutes into the game.
• Feldman, Blasiole and Pettaway each scored on TD runs of 10, 5 and 58 yards, respectively.
• After the Quakers rallied to tie the game at 21-all, Blasiole banged in from 4 and 16 yards to put ONU ahead 34-21 with 5:25 left in the half.
• Feldman hit senior Antonio Iorio (Springboro) on a 5-yard TD pass to make it 41-28 with 4:12 left in the third quarter. 
• WC got within 41-35 with 13:10 left in the game.
• Wilmington drove the ball deep into ONU territory on its final two drives, but each time the Polar Bear defense came up with a turnover.
• Sophomore Joel Schrader (Ohio City/Delphos St. John's) recovered a fumble at the ONU 13-yard line with 3:09 left and DeSousa's pick with three seconds left iced the game.
• Defensively, senior Cooper Braden (Orange City, Fla./University) had 12 tackles to lead ONU.
• Wilmington was led by Isaac Ross, who was 21-of-38 passing for 417 yards and three touchdowns.
• The two teams combined for 1,142 yards of total offense with ONU holding a very slim 572-570 advantage.

Notables

• ONU leads the series between the two schools by a 34-4 margin, with a 16-2 record in Wilmington.
• Northern reached WC territory on its first 10 possessions.
• Today's game was the third of 10 in the 131st season of football at Ohio Northern. Ohio Northern is now 565-527-36 all-time, a winning percentage of .517.
• Blasiole is 19th on the all-time career rushing list with 1,743 yards.
• Pettaway currently ranks 20th all-time in ONU history in rushing with 1,674 yards.
• Ohio Northern is in a three-way tie for first place in the OAC with a 2-0 record with Marietta and Muskingum.
• Andy Fries is in his second season as head coach at ONU with a 7-6 record.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action on Oct. 4 when they host Marietta in a 2 pm contest at Dial-Roberson Stadium as part of Homecoming Weekend.