Sports
Ohio Football dominates Central Michigan on homecoming
By: Austin Yau
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – After a narrow 13-10 win at Kent State, Ohio Football (4-2, 2-0 MAC) returned to Peden Stadium to host the Central Michigan Chippewas (3-3, 1-1 MAC) on homecoming. The Bobcats got a 31-0 lead at half, and despite two late scores by the Chippewas, Ohio got the comfortable win in the rain, 31-14.
On the Bobcats opening drive, returning starting quarterback Nick Poulos was pressured into throwing an easy interception for Jaion Jackson. However, the interception was negated by a pass interference, putting the Bobcats around midfield.
The penalty would not be wasted, as a few plays later, Duncan Brune broke to the left sideline and then went 23 yards for the first Ohio score of the game, and his first touchdown of the year. Although an illegal formation made the PAT for Will Hryszko slightly longer, he still made it, putting the Bobcats up 7-0.
After the Chippewas made it all the way to the Ohio 35, Tyler Gillison and Derek Reagans stuffed Central Michigan QB Angel Flores on fourth-and-1. This ended a Chippewa streak of nine straight converted fourth downs.
Poulos made his return known on the next play, hitting Riley Neer in stride for a 32-yard gain to put the Bobcats well into Central Michigan territory. Multiple short gains followed, until Poulos connected with Neer again for a three-yard score and the Bobcats went up 14-0 with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.
Head Coach John Hauser spoke on Poulos’ return “I think he looked like he did when he left, which was great to see. … I thought he played a really clean, good football game.”
Once in the redzone though, Poulos had a pass deflected and a later pass to Neer fell incomplete so the Bobcats settled for a field goal, which Will Hryszko nailed to put the Bobcats up 17-0.
The defense continued to put on a show for the Bobcat fans. Michael Molnar blitzed Flores and forced a fumble that the Bobcats recovered at the Chippewas 35.
Once again, Poulos connected with another receiver for a short TD, this time Preston Bowman for a 1-yard score, putting the Bobcats up 24-0.
On Ohio’s next offensive drive, Victor Rosa went right up the middle for 20 yards, putting the Bobcats at the 50-yard line at the two-minute timeout. After Victor Rosa put the Bobcats in the red zone, Poulos fumbled the snap and J.J. Douglas recovered it.
With six seconds left in the half, Poulos rolled out of the pocket to his right and uncorked one to Dorwart’s outstretched hands. Dorwart quickly ran the few extra yards into the end zone for the 44-yard touchdown. This put Ohio up 31-0 at halftime.
Head Coach John Hauser spoke on the team’s dominant first half: “One of the things we talked about this week was getting up in this game. … I thought the first half was as good as we probably played this year, offense, defense and special teams wise.”
Both teams traded multiple three-and-outs and fumbles in the third.
Yet Central Michigan began to move the ball towards the end of the quarter. Then Angel Flores pitched the ball to Jayden Clerveaux who spun away from a tackle, to break up the shutout with a 15-yard rushing touchdown with 25 seconds left in the third.
It was another uneventful quarter in the fourth, however the Chippewas did get another touchdown, a 20-yard rush by Nick Woodford, to put the game at 31-14.
The two second half scores by the Chippewas would be all the scoring for the second half, as the Bobcats took a comfortable win on homecoming, 31-14. Wide Receiver Riley Neer spoke about the homecoming crowd, especially given the weather.
“It was exciting to see this atmosphere even in this type of weather,” Neer said. “The fans really stuck it out in the midst of the rain so that was really cool to see.”
Poulos had a strong game in his return, passing for three touchdowns with 158 yards, as well as 52 rushing yards. Duncan Brune also added a good performance on the ground, going for 91 yards and his first touchdown of the season.
On the defensive side, Jermaine McInnis stepped in for an injured Jack Fries quite well, with a team-leading 12 tackles. Molnar also had a standout day, posting five tackles with two of those being sacks, including the one that forced a fumble.
Ohio heads to Sacramento State to take on the newest MAC members on Saturday at 10 p.m.
Central Michigan will host Western Michigan also on Saturday, but earlier at 1:30 p.m.