Football rallies for 49-42 shootout victory over Mount Saint Joseph in non-conference thriller

ADA — The Ohio Northern football team rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Mount Saint Joseph 49-42 in a thrilling non-conference shootout on a beautiful November Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (6-2 Overall), Mount Saint Joseph (4-4 Overall).
• Venue: Dial-Roberson Stadium - Ada, Ohio.

The Game

• Senior Louie Blasiole (Mantua/Crestwood) scored on a 13-yard rush with 1:55 to play to give ONU a 49-42 lead.
• On MSJ's final drive, senior defensive end Connor Sanders (McGuffey/Upper Sandusky) had a strip sack on 4th-and-17 to ice the game for the Polar Bears.
• Blasiole ran 31 times for 125 yards and three TDs for ONU.
• Senior Sam Feldman (Springboro) completed 13-of-23 passes for 160 yards and a TD and ran 10 times for a career-high 114 yards and a score.
• Junior Jordan Pettaway (Oregon/Clay) ran six times for 70 yards.
• Senior Kyle Celestin (Miami, Fla./Surge Academy) caught six passes for 71 yards.
• MSJ scored with 9:14 left in the third quarter to take a 35-21 lead.
• But the Polar Bears would score touchdowns on four of their next five possessions to regain the advantage.
• Sophomore Zach Olechnowicz (Akron/Revere) banged in from 3 yards out with 6:29 left in the third to get ONU within 35-28.
• Freshman Nate Blasiole (Mantua/Crestwood) recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving Northern a short field at the Lion 18-yard line.
• Five plays later, older brother Louie Blasiole banged in from one yard out to tie the game at 35-35 with 4:05 left in the third.
• Mt. St. Joseph then marched 62 yards in 10 plays for a score to go back on top 42-35 with 14:47 left in the game.
• The Polar Bears responded with a 9-play, 52-yard scoring drive, capped by a 13-yard pass from Feldman to sophomore Mikey Brown (Wilmington), to tie it at 42-all with 8:14 left.
• Northern's defense then forced a 3-and-out and the hosts had the ball at its 40 with 6:38 to play.
• Nine plays and 60 yards later, Louie Blasiole found the end zone on a 13-yard run to give the Polar Bears a 49-42 lead with 1:55 left.
• Freshman Vic Hoelscher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to put ONU up 7-0 just 12 seconds into the game.
• Trailing 20-14 at halftime, Feldman ran in from 49 yards out to put ONU on top 21-20 just 2:20 into the second half.
• Defensively, senior A.J. DeSousa (DeBary, Fla./University) had seven tackles and senior Myles Aldrich (Lima/Shawnee) had seven tackles, a sack and blocked an extra point for ONU.
• Mt. St. Joseph was led by Paxon Schreiber, who was 19-of-40 passing for 406 yards and six touchdowns.
• The Polar Bears out-gained the Lions 458-414 in total offense, including a 298-8 advantage in rushing.

Notables

• This was the first meeting between the two schools.
• Ohio Northern remains in second place in the OAC with its 5-1 mark, tied with #24 Baldwin Wallace (5-1) and one game behind #2 Mount Union (6-0).
• Saturday's game was the eighth of 10 in the 131st season of football at Ohio Northern. Ohio Northern is now 569-528-36 all-time, a winning percentage of .518.
• Blasiole is 12th on the all-time career rushing list with 2,308 yards.
• Pettaway currently ranks 15th all-time in ONU history in rushing with 1,910 yards.
• Feldman is 12th all-time at ONU with 2,709 career passing yards.
• Andy Fries is in his second season as head coach at ONU with an 11-7 record, a winning percentage of .611.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday when they host #24 Baldwin Wallace at 1:30 pm at Dial-Roberson Stadium.