Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay football team, ranked No. 10 in the country, battled a hard-nosed Fairmont State Fighting Falcons squad on Saturday, Sep. 12 in Donnell Stadium. Playing in their home-opener, the Oilers earned a 37-17 victory to improve to 2-0 on the year while Fairmont State, which plays in the Mountain East Conference (MEC), falls to 0-3.
On a hot and rainy afternoon, neither team came out of the gates with their best, at least on offense. During each team's first three possessions, neither team had a drive last longer than six plays.
Finally, after Findlay's defense forced a three-and-out that included a 17-yard sack by senior Carl Biddings that pinned FSU inside their own five, the Fairmont State punt only reached the 24 yardline. On the first play of Findlay's next series, junior Christian Davis scampered 24 yards to the endzone, putting the home in front.
That lead quickly doubled. Another three-and-out by the Oilers defense and the Oilers were back at it, starting the drive inside Fairmont State territory.
After one first down, senior Chase Harrison found fifth-year senior Delon Hurt down the sideline for a 38 yard touchdown.
Leading 14-3, the game broke open just before the half thanks to a 73-yard run by senior Dominic Bennett, setting up another touchdown pass from Harrison to Hurt.
The Falcons fought their way back into the game, scoring the next 14 points to pull within four at 21-17, leaving an uneasy feeling for fans in the Orange and Black.
Fairmont got the ball back looking to drive and potentially take a lead, but a bad snap, which was a theme for the Falcons on Saturday, sent the quarterback 17 yards backwards, essentially ending the drive before it began.
On the ensuing punt, junior Cameron Wright weaved his way through traffic and raced 58 yards to the house.
After a sack by junior Eric Jones to start the next series, another bad snap over the head of quarterback Deven Sisler resulted in a safety, putting the Oilers in front 30-17 in a matter of just a couple minutes.
With 2:51 to play, the Falcons were in desperation mode and Sisler launched a jump ball on the first play of a drive. That ball was intercepted by junior Luke Weihrauch. Two plays later, a 47-yard rush by Bennett went the distance and all but ended the ballgame.
Fairmont State possessed the ball for 34:17 and had 17 first downs compared to just 11 for the Oilers, but the Falcons put the ball on the ground too many times to make much headway. FSU fumbled ten times. While they lost just one, many of those fumbles were poor snaps which resulted in lost yardage.
Findlay's defense held the Falcons to just 97 rushing yards thanks to 95 yards lost on negative plays. The Oilers also forced four turnovers that included a trio of interceptions while allowing just 135 yards through the air.
Fifth-year senior Christion Stokes tied a career-high with 13 tackles to lead the team. Right behind was junior Jon Slaper who finished with 12 tackles, nine of which came in the first half. Biddings had three sacks and a forced fumble in the game while junior Josh Woods, Jones, and junior Elijah Shankle each had two tackles-for-loss.
Weihrauch, junior Riley Caldwell, and freshman Da'Mon Thomas each had interceptions for the Oilers.
Dominic Bennett led the ground attack with ten carries for 123 yards and a score while Christian Davis had 15 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Harrison finished 12-for-23 for 131 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Delon Hurt who had 81 yards through the air.
The Oilers are back in action on Saturday, Sep. 19 when they head to Owensboro, Kentucky for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) opener against the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. That kickoff is set for 1:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm CT.
