Sports
Ohio Football Hangs on for Win Over Kent State
By: Joseph Payton, Sean Neidig
Posted on:
With just under four minutes to play in the game, Kent State faced a fourth and six from the Ohio seven yard line threatening to score. The Bobcats needed a stop to preserve a 14-10 lead for a chance to leave Dix Stadium with a victory. Nick Holley’s pass flew out of the back of the end zone and Ohio took over on offense to seal off the 14-10 win.
In the first half, the Bobcats flexed their muscles in the running game with 160 total yards on the ground. With 8:55 on the first quarter clock, Dorian Brown ripped off a 49-yard touchdown run that gave Ohio an early 7-0 lead. Later in the second quarter, Ohio put together a 12-play 81 yard drive which culminated in a four-yard touchdown run by Maleek Irons.
A few posessions later, Irons had a 60-yard run which put Ohio inside the 10-yard line. But just as it looked like Ohio would take a 3-touchdown lead, Maleek Irons coughed up a fumble giving the ball back to the Golden Flashes with just under five minutes to play in the half. Kent State responded by driving down the field deep into Ohio territory. Shane Hynes capped off the drive with a 22-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the half to make the score 14-3 in Ohio’s favor.
Kent State then opened up the third quarter with a 17-play, 75-yard drive which resulted in a touchdown run by Nick Holley from the 3-yard line. The drive took 8:18 off of the clock and was the longest drive of the year for Kent State. Ohio struggled to stop Kent State on third down on the scoring drive as the Golden Flashes converted third down five times. That would be the only offensive production from Kent State in the second half as Ohio’s defense held strong for the remainder of the game.
Dorian Brown paced the Ohio rushing attack with 110 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown. Maleek Irons also ran for 83 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown. The Golden Flashes were led by Nick Holley with 159 yards on the ground on 41 carries and a touchdown. Holley also completed 12 passes on 29 attempts for 101 yards.
Ohio made a change at quarterback, redshirt freshman Quinton Maxwell started and played the entire game. Maxwell threw for 127 yards and an interception.
Kent State falls to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in Mid-American Conference play. The Bobcats improved to 5-3 on the year and 3-1 against MAC opponents. Ohio will pick things back up next week on Thursday night on the at Toledo against the Golden Rockets. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.