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Tyler Thimons and Tony Tirado make a tackle vs. BW
Doug Beigie

Week 8 Football Preview: Blue Streaks Ready for Final Road Trip, Heading to ONU

| By: Jack Stephens, Staff Writer
The Blue Streaks are looking to shut down a dynamic Ohio Northern offense. 
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — Coming off of their fifth straight win in dominant fashion, the John Carroll Blue Streaks look to finish strong in their last road game of the season against the Ohio Northern Polar Bears. 

The Blue Streaks roared in the second and third quarter on Saturday, scoring 49 total points, and utilized a scoreless second half defensively to defeat the Wilmington Quakers, 66-14. The offense eclipsed 625 total yards, their largest total of the season, en route to their highest scoring game in the 2024 campaign. Defensively, the Blue Streaks picked off the Wilmington quarterback four times, totally five turnovers on the day, shutting out Wilmington in the final 30 minutes of action.

The Polar Bears hung around with #3 Mount Union in the first half, but the Purple Raiders used 28 second half points to defeat Ohio Northern, 42-13. 

Historically, the Blue Streaks have controlled the series, winning 23 of 36 total matchups, and the last five. Last year, JCU dominated the game, winning 44-14 in University Heights. The last Polar Bear victory was in 2017 in double overtime, 27-20.  

Game Notes
Live Stats
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The Offenses

JCU

It was a total team effort for the Blue Streaks last week, as they tallied 625 total yards and 66 points, both their highest totals of the season. Once again, graduate student quarterback Nick Semptimphelter led the way as the leader of the offense. He completed 21-of-26 passes for a season-high 388 yards and 5 touchdowns. These stats push the Bucknell transfer to a conference-best 257.9 passing yards per game and 19 touchdown passes. Semptimphelter also has the sixth-best completion percentage nationally (72.8%). 

A big part of Semptimphelter's success came from the career performances from wide receivers Dorian Facen Jr and Tyren Montgomery. Facen had career high in catches, yards and touchdowns, with six catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns, which led the team on Saturday. On the season, Facen has hauled in 28 catches for 396 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first season of consistent playing time. Montgomery, who has been Semptimphelter's top target all season, also had a career day with six catches for 122 yards and a season-high three touchdown receptions. The Nicholls State transfer leads the OAC in receiving touchdowns (8), and yards per reception (18.5). The duo of Facen and Montgomery has proven all season long to be a game changing threat at any point in the game. 

In the ground game, the Blue Streaks got another surprise performance from another different back. Last week, it was freshman Josh Styles who took the bulk of the carries against the Quakers. The Lake Catholic product used 14 carries to gain 102 yards on the ground, which led all JCU tailbacks in the game. Senior Evan McVay also had a big day carrying the ball eight times for 62 yards, reaching paydirt twice. Over the course of the season, JCU has also got big contributions from Nemo Jenkins and Quincy Newsom who have combined for 573 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns between the two of them. The Blue Streaks will look to continue their complimentary style of football in order to win their sixth straight game.

ONU

Despite being 4-3 on the season, the Polar Bears offense has averaged over 380 yards per game and almost 36 points per game. A key factor in their success has been their ground game that's averaged 223.4 yards per game, which is good for second in the OAC. Sophomore tailback Jordan Pettaway has been the workhorse back with a conference-best 721 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. His backfield teammate, Louie Blasiole, has also been impressive, rushing for 559 yards and six touchdowns on the season. 

Junior Sam Feldman has taken over the Polar Bears quarterback room and played well. The junior has completed 50% of his passes for 823 yards and nine touchdowns. Last week against Mount Union, Feldman struggled, throwing for 181 yards and three touchdowns against the Purple Raiders. However, two weeks ago, the 6'5" Findlay transfer led a 13-point fourth-quarter comeback, throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns against Capital. 

It's been a group effort in the receiving room as four different wideouts have accounted for over 200 yards. Sophomore Kyle Celestin leads the Polar Bears in all categories with 20 catches for 263 yards and a touchdown. The Polar Bears will look to attack the Blue Streaks passing defense, which ranks in the bottom five in the conference, in order to pull off the upset. 

The Defenses

JCU 

It was a career day for sophomore defensive back Jacob Hufnagel a week ago for the Blue Streaks. The former All-OAC Honorable Mention racked up a team high five total tackles, while hauling in his second interception of the season. The six foot one defensive back also broke up three passes, his highest mark on the season. Freshman Dylan Crasi also picked off the quarterback for the second game in a row. Also joining the interception party was freshman Josh Jones and sophomore Michael Beiersdorf, both their first career pick. 

The defense had their first game since their matchup with Wisconsin-Whitewater, in which they accounted for zero sacks, but they still dominated, holding their opponent to under 20 points for the fifth straight game. Graduate student linebacker Tyler Thimons has been flying from sideline-to-sideline all fall long, accounting for a team high 53 total tackles and three tackles for loss. 

Junior Ben Day has been in the backfield all season long racking up four sacks and seven tackles for loss on the defensive line. The Blue Streaks will lean on their defense, which has been one of the conference's best, in the second half of the year as they look to win their sixth straight game. 

ONU

The Polar Bear defense ranks fourth in rushing defense and third in passing yards allowed, and they will need a big performance Saturday when trying to limit the Blue Streaks red hot offense. A big reason for their defensive success has been defensive back Dalton Tjong. The senior currently leads the OAC in total tackles (59), while also tallying an interception and four pass breakups. The Georgia native will have his hands full when trying to stop two elite Blue Streak pass catchers and a strong run game. 

Junior defensive linemen Connor Sanders currently sits tied for fifth in the conference with 5.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss, wreaking havoc in the backfield all season long. Linebacker Myles Aldrich has also been a problem, totaling 35 tackles, three sacks and 10 tackles for loss. In their final home game of the season, ONU will look to feed off the energy from the crowd in order to pull off the upset Saturday afternoon.
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