Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay football team, playing in its' home opener, picked up a decisive victory on Saturday, Sep. 21 against the Lake Erie College Storm, winning by a score of 42-6. With the victory, the Oilers improve to 3-0 on the season while Lake Erie falls to 1-2. Saturday was also the first Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) contest for each team.
The Oilers received the opening kickoff and wasted no time getting on the board, scoring in just three plays. Senior Makya Matthews took off for 17 yards on the opening play from scrimmage and was followed by a 30-yard connection from senior Matthew Rueve to senior Redd Douglas. Rueve and Douglas found each other paired up again on the scoring play, a 28-yard strike over the middle.
Late in the quarter, after LEC had scored on a field goal, Findlay was again driving deep into Storm territory. The first frame ended with the Oilers on the Lake Erie five and, on the first play of the second quarter, Rueve found freshman Donovan O'Leary for a touchdown.
Another field goal by Lake Erie made the score 14-6, but a touchdown by Findlay with a minute remaining in the half gave the home team a 21-6 advantage through 30 minutes of play.
Findlay quickly got the ball back in the beginning of the second half and went on to score on a touchdown pass from Rueve to senior Cam Childers.
Over the next seven minutes, it was the Oilers' defense that stepped up. UF forced a quick three-and-out and then, after a fumble gave the ball back to the Storm, junior Christion Stokes intercepted a pass for the second consecutive week. He returned the ball all the way to the Lake Erie nine-yard line, setting up another touchdown.
Findlay scored again late in the game and went on to a 36-point victory.
The Oilers dominated in every way, picking up 372 yards of total offense while allowing just 146. UF gained 145 yards on the ground and 227 through the air while LEC picked up just 18 yards on the ground and 128 through the air. When these two teams match up, Findlay has put the clamps down, especially in the run game where the Storm have not had 100 yards rushing since 2021 and, in the last three years combined, have just 30 total rushing yards against the Oilers.
Rueve finished the game 16-of-21 for 227 yards and four touchdowns. He did toss his first career interception in the game, as well. He joins Rhys Gervais (2015-18) as the only two Findlay quarterbacks to throw for at least nine touchdowns in his first three starts.
Childers led the way with five receptions for 66 yards and a score while Douglas finished with three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Junior Bryan Hunt had a pair of receptions for 56 yards including the longest reception of the game, a 48-yarder in the first quarter.
Christion Stokes finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles. He also had one-and-a-half tackles-for-loss and an interception to lead the stingy Oilers' defense.
Freshman Jayon Harvey had eight tackles and a pass breakup while junior Romaro Warren Jr. had six stops and a fumble recovery. Junior Sam Weihrauch and junior Reece Brancifort each had five tackles. Junior Londyn Claxton had four stops, two of which were sacks.
Next on the schedule for Findlay is a home game against the Hillsdale College Chargers on Saturday, Sep. 28. That game, which will serve as the Oilers' Homecoming Game, will kick off at 2:00 pm.
