Box Score Perhaps John Carroll reached the summit too early.

Trailing by 14 points early in the second quarter, the Blue Streaks would climb back into the game and eventually pass the host Ohio Northern Polar Bears in the fourth quarter.

The trouble was, 12 minutes remained on the clock after JCU took the lead. That proved to be enough time for the Polar Bears to catch and then pass the Blue Streaks for what turned out to be a 24-21 Ohio Northern victory Saturday afternoon at Dial Roberson Stadium in Ada, Ohio.

Lee Lukasevic produced the game winning points on a 29-yard field goal with 1:33 left in the contest

Box Score

The host squad turned the ball over on downs the first time it touched the ball, but then scored touchdowns the next two times. When Sdrick Marshall scored from three yards out and Lukasevic added the point after, the Polar Bears led 14-0 with a little over 11 minutes to play in the opening half.

John Carroll, which had missed a field goal on its opening drive, responded with a game-changing drive of its own. Domonic De La Riva scored on a two-yard dive to cap a 13-play, 66-yard march downfield, and Kresimir Ivkovic added the extra point to cut Ohio Northern's lead to 14-7 at the break.

In what may have been its most impresive series of offensive plays this season, John Carroll took the opening kick of the second half and chewed up 70 yard and over eight minutes of the clock. The 16th and final play of the drive was De La Riva's second touchdown on the day, a one-yard plunge. Ivkovic added the PAT, and the score was tied at 14-14 with 6:48 to play in the third quarter.

After the defense came up big with a stop on a fourth down play in the red zone, the red hot Blue Streak offense took over and put together an 86-yard trek that resulted in a third De La Riva touchdown run, a 37-yard burst that gave John Carroll its first lead of the day.

Following Ivkovic's point after, JCU held a seven-point lead.

But for a team that had not won in Ada since 2002 and had never won at Dial Roberson in four ties since the place opened in 2004, 12 minutes would be enough clock left for old demons to reappear. The JCU offense would only run seven plays and gain eight yards the rest of the way.

In the meantimne, the Ohio Northern offense would generate 144 yards on 18 plays and score ten points. The Lukasevic field goal would givethe Polar Bears their sixth consecutive win over the Blue Streaks.

De La Riva was the spark in the John Carroll offense, as the freshman in his first collegiate 100-yard rushing day. He finished with a game-high 107 yards on 16 carries to go with his three touchdowns.

C.J. Seitzinger had a game-high 17 tackles as John Carroll slipped to 4-3 overall and 4-2 (3rd place) in the OAC