Sports
Ohio University Football bests West Virginia in front of a record-breaking crowd
By: Andrew Bowlby
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Peden Stadium’s official capacity is listed at 24,000. However, a total of 26,740 were at the venue Saturday afternoon watching Ohio University Football (1-1) take down West Virginia (1-1) 17-10.
“It was electric for me,” wide receiver Chase Hendricks said.
Neither team started the game all too well with both punting the ball after their respective first possessions.
Ohio’s second drive was much of the same, but WVU was able to get its offense going on their second drive. After a 31-yard passing play between Nicco Marchiol and Cam Vaughn got the Mountaineers in positive territory, Jahiem White rushed from 31-yards out into the endzone giving WVU a 7-0 lead in the first.
On the following Bobcats drive, they would find their first points of the game. Ohio moved the ball as far as the WVU 23-yard line; however, a delay of game backed the Bobcats up and ultimately stalled the drive.
Brack Peacock still knocked through a 37-yard field goal to put Ohio on the board. The Bobcats defense followed that up with a stop and gave Ohio the ball to begin the second quarter.
The drive began with a 19-yard gain to Chase Hendricks and set a tone for the drive. The Bobcats moved all the way to the West Virginia eight-yard line, but a handful of mistakes pushed them too far back and the drive ended with a missed field goal attempt.
A drive later, and the Ohio offense began to look the best it had all day. Hendricks, Max Rodarte and Duncan Brune all caught passes as the Bobcats made their way down the field. Parker Navarro made a statement with his legs to set Ohio up inside the 10 again.
After seven-straight plays from inside the WVU 10, Sieh Bangura punched the ball in for his first score of the season, giving Ohio a 10-7 lead in the process.
Ohio followed it up with another strong drive later in the quarter. That one ended with a passing TD to Hendricks from 31 yards out and took the Bobcats into halftime with a 17-7 lead.
The success of the first half did not immediately transfer into the second. Aside from an early field goal by WVU on its first drive of the half, the game entered a defensive stalemate. The teams took turns landing defensive blows. Neither team eclipsed 150 yards in the second half and that was thanks in large part to the play of the defensive lines.
WVU’s caused problems for Navarro creating pressure and forcing him out of the pocket. It led to three second half interceptions, however, those picks did not lead to any points.
“I don’t think it bothered him as much,” Hendricks said reassuring his confidence in his quarterback.
“There’s times that he’s going to make mistakes because he’s trying to do too much,” head coach Brian Smith added. “He’s going to grow a lot from this game. For him to have a setback, it’s going to really re-boot him.”
For the Ohio defensive line, they were even better. Led by Nehemiah Dukes, the d-line was stellar. Dukes recorded six tackles in the game as well as a sack/TFL.
“We came into the game expecting to win,” Dukes said.
And that defense made a final stop lifted by a Cam Hollobaugh interception to seal what was one of the biggest wins in program history.
Ohio will turn around and face the No. 1 team in the country on the road next week against Ohio State.