Polar Bears expect big things

ADA - Ohio Northern running back R.J. Meadows wants to go out with a bang.

"I'm expecting to go the playoffs, honestly," the senior Meadows said. "We have 24 seniors, we all have playing time. We have great young guys. We're really excited about this year. ... I expect to be in the playoffs. That's the goal."

ONU coach Dean Paul said, "That's always one of our goals, to get to the postseason play and we think it's a realistic goal. "We've been right there knocking on the door the last four years. ... That should be one of our goals, but it's not the only thing we're going to measure."

In four years at ONU, Paul stands 29-11, including years of 8-2, 8-2, 6-4 and 7-3.

Ohio Northern returns 13 starters (six offense, seven defense) from a team that went 7-3 last year (6-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference). ONU was ranked No. 16 in the nation in the preseason D3Football.com Division III poll. The Polar Bears were picked to finish second by the coaches and third by the media in the OAC preseason poll.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Simmons (Orrville) played in nine games last year and beat out the now-departed Jeff Pankratz late in the season. The former all-state quarterback Simmons started the final two games and completed 66 percent of his passes for 863 yards. He threw eight touchdowns and had two interceptions.

"He's a very good decision maker," Paul said. "No matter how strong your arm is, it comes down to making good decisions. He can create some things with an ability be elusive. He has a very accurate pass."

Meadows said of Simmons, "He's smart. He puts everybody where they need to be."

The 6-foot, 215-pound Meadows has run for 2,552 career yards, which ranks No. 7 on the school's all-time list. Last year he ran for 892 yards (4.7 average) with seven touchdowns. He caught 17 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns.

"We'll probably try to expand his role in the passing game," Paul said of Meadows.

Top receivers from last year Ben Wittwer and David Delk are gone. Coming back are veterans Sam Amidon (16 catches, 218 yards, 2 TDs), tight end Stephen Gill (13 catches, 170 yards), Michael Busch (10 catches, 100 yards) and Brook Crawford (10 catches, 97 yards).

Kansas State transfer 6-foot-2 Ro Grigsby (Dayton Northmont) will see action at wide receiver.

The offensive line has returning starters guard Steve Francis (6-2, 340), center Pat Smith (6-foot, 250) and tackle Rick Ingold (6-4, 255). Guard Andrew Benchic (6-4, 280) started all 10 games in 2006, but missed all last year with a leg injury.

The defense returns two starters on the line with nose guard Jake Fallis (6-0, 255), a two-time All-OAC selection, and end Josh Horn (6-2, 230). Fallis had 49 tackles, 14 for loss, and 5 sacks. Horn had 51 tackles, 11 for loss, and 6.5 sacks.

Fallis said he learned a lot from former ONU defensive end Jason Trusnik, who is on the New York Jets' physically unable to perform list.

"He was a motor 100 percent all the time," Fallis said. "He taught me a lot of hand stuff and getting away from blocks. He got me into that swagger."

Lima Central Catholic grad defensive tackle Anthony Azzarello (26 tackles, 5 for loss) is out three to six weeks with a preseason knee injury.

Also returning is end Josh Lokai-Owens (6-1, 230), a starter the last two seasons who went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 last year.

The linebacker unit must replace second team All-American and leading tackler Lenny Trusnik (106 tackles). The group returns starters Gabe Washington (50 tackles) and Adam Jones. Jeff Busching and Jake Myers were part-time starters.

The secondary has returnees cornerback-safety Cullen Rasmussen (48 tackles), safety Chane Porter (66 tackles) and cornerback Eric Wenzler (48 tackles, three interceptions). Track standout Ryan Robertson returns to football after concentrating on track last year.

"It's nice to get back into it," Robertson (16 career starts) said. "There's plenty of adjustments (coming back). ... It's basically knocking the rust off."

ONU opens the season at 2 p.m. Sept. 13 at North Central (Ill.).

OHIO NORTHERN SCHEDULE

Sept. 13                     at North Central (Ill.)                   2 pm

Sept. 20                     at Mount Union-x                                    7 pm

Sept. 27                     OTTERBEIN-x                             1:30 pm

Oct. 4                                    MUSKINGUM-x                          1:30 pm

Oct. 11                       at Heidelberg-x                           1:30 pm

Oct. 18                       MARIETTA-x                            1:30 pm

Oct. 25                       at John Carroll-x                         1:30 pm

Nov. 1                                    at Baldwin-Wallace-x                   1:30 pm

Nov. 8                        CAPITAL-x                               1 pm

Nov. 15                      WILMINGTON-x                          1 pm

HOME GAMES IN BOLD

x-Ohio Athletic Conference