No. 6 Capital pulls away from No. 11 Ohio Northern 24-6 in defensive battle

By Tim Glon

COLUMBUS — No. 6-ranked Capital took advantage of two fourth quarter interceptions to pull away from No. 11 Ohio Northern in a classic defensive battle and post a 24-6 Ohio Athletic Conference football victory Saturday afternoon at Bernlohr Stadium.

The Polar Bears fall to 4-2 overall (3-2 OAC), while the Crusaders improve to 6-0, 5-0.

The CU defense came into the game ranked No. 2 nationally and stymied Ohio Northern all day, limiting the Polar Bears to 226 yards of total offense and forcing three turnovers.

The ONU defense was stellar as well, holding the Crusaders to 218 yards. ONU has now held 16 of its last 18 opponents under 300 yards of total offense.

Lenny Trusnik led Ohio Northern's outstanding defensive effort with a career-high 18 tackles, two tackles for loss and an interception.

Jake Fallis added 10 tackles, four tackles for loss and a blocked field goal for ONU.

Three of Capital's scoring drives started at midfield or better, as CU covered 10, 30 and 50 yards for its three touchdowns.

Adam Bogner led the ONU offense with 47 yards on 13 carries. Jeff Pankratz completed 7-of-23 passes for 115 yards and Ben Wittwer caught five passes for 105 yards.

Wade Bartholomew completed 14-of-27 passes for 161 yards and three TDs and Matt Merritt ran 28 times for 63 yards for CU.

Northern led 3-0 at intermission as Jake Heaphy drilled a 23-yard field goal with 1:03 left in the first half to cap a 7-play, 49-yard scoring drive.

Pankratz hit Wittwer on a 35-yard pass to give ONU the ball at the Capital 20-yard line to key the drive.

Capital marched 54 yards in 11 plays on the opening drive of the second half to tie the game at 3-3 on a 28-yard field goal by Matt Spitz with 9:34 left in the third period.

Pankratz and Wittwer hooked up on another big play on ONU's first possession of the second half, connecting for 42 yards to the Capital 3-yard line. Heaphy put the Polar Bears up 6-3 with a 22-yard field goal at the 6:24 tmark of the quarter.

Northern marched 72 yards in 10 plays for the go-ahead score.

A muffed snap on a punt by Heaphy gave the Crusaders the ball on the ONU 10-yard line. It took two plays for the hosts to take a 10-6 lead with 3:13 to go in the third as Bartholomew hit Merritt on an 11-yard swing pass for the score.

The Crusaders went ahead 17-6 when Bartholomew hit Matt White on a 21-yard TD pass with 7:29 left in the game. CU marched 50 yards in four plays after a C.J. Steele interception gave the Crusaders the ball in excellent field position.

After another interception gave CU the ball at the ONU 30, Bartholomew hit Ryan Gunnarson on a 31-yard TD strike to make it 24-6 with 4:03 left in the game.

Northern struggled with field position all day and did not start a drive outside its 25-yard line in the second half.

"We knew it would be a field position and turnover type of a ballgame," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "I was disappointed with how we played in the compete zone. We got two field goals in our possessions and Capital converted touchdowns. That, and the three-to-one turnover difference was a huge part of the game."

The game was the second consecutive loss for ONU against a nationally-ranked opponent, as the Polar Bears fell to top-ranked Mount Union last week.

The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday when they travel to Marietta for a 1:30 pm contest at Don Drumm Stadium.