By Tim Glon
TIFFIN — Ohio Northern scored 52 points and rolled up 650 yards of total offense, but No. 23-ranked Heidelberg topped both marks to post a 69-52 football win over ONU on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Hoernemann Stadium.
The Polar Bears fall to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Student Princes improve to 2-1, 1-1.
Senior Patrick Angle completed 27-of-40 passes for a carer-high 394 yards and four touchdowns and ran 20 times for 79 yards and two more scores for ONU.
Junior Justin Magazine ran 19 times for 104 yards and junior Devon Price caught seven passes for 116 yards and ran six times for 68 yards and a score for the Polar Bears.
HU finished with a school-record 729 yards of total offense as the two teams combined for 121 points and 1,379 yards of total offense in the game.
Michael Mees completed 24-of-32 passes for 410 yards and five touchdowns and ran seven times for 116 yards and one score, Cartel Brooks ran 21 times for 103 yards and a TD and Donteea Dye caught 12 passes for 213 yards and two TDs for the Student Princes.
"I'm proud of the way our guys kept battling," ONU head coach Dean Paul said. "Pat Angle had a great game and we made quite a few plays on offense. But we didn't make enough plays and had too many mistakes. We had opportunities to win the game but couldn't capatalize."
Trailing 48-45 early in the fourth quarter, the Polar Bears drove the ball to the HU 31-yard line, but a fumbled shotgun snap and a sack forced a 3rd and 31 and ONU as forced to punt.
Heidelberg then scored touchdowns on its final three possessions to put the game away.
After HU went up 55-45 on a 22-yard pass from Michael Mees to James Mees, Northern marched 73 yards in just four plays for a score.
Angle hit Allen on a 41-yard TD down the left sideline and ONU was within 55-52 with 7:09 left in the game.
The Student Princes than drove 65 yards in six plays and scored on a 5-yard Mees to Mees pass to go up 62-52 with 5:13 to go.
Again ONU quickly drove into HU territory, reaching the 29-yard line, but junior Matt Chaney's 46 yard field goal sailed just wide to the left with 3:20 to go.
Heidelberg got on the board on its first possession on a 25-yard field goal by Stephen Smith with just 1:30 gone in the contest.
But the Polar Bears answered when Angle hit senior Shaile Chamberlain on a 21-yard TD strike with 7:18 left in the first quarter.
HU regained the lead at 10-7 on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dye with 5:09 left in the opening period.
Northern missed on a fake field goal attempt on its ensuing possession.
The two teams would then combine to score touchdowns on nine consecutive possessions the remainder of the first half.
Angle scored on a 1-yard sneak to pull the Polar Bears within 17-14 with 10:46 left in the half.
After a HU score, Angle hit Price on a 45-yard TD strike and it was 24-21 with 9:12 left in the second quarter.
Angle kept on a 1-yard TD run with 3:29 left in the half and it was 31-28 HU.
Angle went over the top on a 37-yard TD pass to sophomore Reed Allen with 1:12 to play in the second quarter to make it a 38-35 game.
Trailing 45-35 at halftime, ONU took the third quarter kickoff and scored on a 44-yard field goal by junior Matt Chaney to pull within 45-38 with 12:15 left in the period.
After a Heidelberg field goal increased the lead to 48-38, the Polar Bears went on a lengthy touchdown drive.
ONU marched 74 yards in 15 plays and took 5:26 off the clock, scoring on a 10-yard run by Price to trim the deficit to 48-45 with 4:12 left in the period.
Northern's defense then forced a 3-and-out and the Polar Bears got the ball back with a chance to take the lead. But the Polar Bears' drive would stall early in the fourth quarter.
Senior Austin Hostetler had nine tackles and sophomore Dan Eller had eight stops to lead the ONU defense.
The Polar Bears will open the home portion of their schedule next Saturday at 1:30 pm against No. 8-ranked John Carroll at Dial-Roberson Stadium as part of ONU's Homecoming Weekend festivities.