No. 14 Ohio Northern shuts out Millikin (Ill.) 42-0 in season opener

By Tim Glon

ADA — Senior David Delk caught five passes for a career-high 141 yards and three TDs to lead No. 14-ranked Ohio Northern past Millikin (Ill.) 42-0 in the 2007 season opener Saturday ay Dial-Roberson Stadium.

The Polar Bears (1-0) won their season opener for the fourth consecutive season.

The Big Blue falls to 1-1.

ONU junior quarterback Jeff Pankratz completed 13-of-22 passes for a career-high 230 yards and three TDs.

Junior R.J. Meadows ran 18 times for 122 yards and a TD, giving him nine 100-yard games in his 17 career starts.

Pankratz hit Delk on TD passes of 39, 44 and 30 yards.

The 39-yarder gave ONU a 7-0 lead with 1:42 left in the first period.

Meadows plowed in from two yards out with 8:41 left in the second quarter to give ONU a 14-0 lead at intermission.

The Polar Bears exploded for 21 third quarter points to expand their lead to 35-0.

First, Pankratz hit Delk on a 44-yard TD strike with 11:01 left in the third. He then hit Delk on the 33-yard TD pass to make it 28-0 with 7:30 left in the period.

Freshman Kyle Simmons then hit senior Jesse Kill on a 22-yard TD pass with 4:24 left in the third.

Senior Adam Bogner ran in from 44 yards out on an option play to make it 42-0 with 13:00 left in the game.

The game was delayed one hour and 20 minutes with 11:03 left in the game due to lightning.

The Polar Bear defense limited the Big Blue to 261 yards of total offense, including just 18 on the ground, while the ONU offense rolled up 542 yards of offense in the contest.

This is the second consecutive shutout for the Ohio Northern defense. ONU blanked Wilmington 52-0 in the 2006 season finale. ONU now has not given up a touchdown in 13 quarters.

Sophomore Eric Wenzler led the Polar Bears with a career-high 10 tackles and a pass broken up.

Justin Livingston completed 9-of-13 passes for 171 yards and Chris Katzmark caught six passes for a career-high 157 yards to lead Millikin.

The Polar Bears will kick off Ohio Athletic Conference action next Saturday at Muskingum at 1:30 pm at McConagha Stadium in New Concord.