Bulldogs Fall At Findlay In First Road Tilt

Findlay, Ohio - A disasterous first half spelled doom for the Ferris State University football team on Saturday (Sept. 12) afternoon as the Bulldogs suffered a 43-7 setback to the Findlay Oilers in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action at Donnell Stadium in Findlay, Ohio.

The unbeaten Oilers dominated the first half in all phases of the game while taking a 38-0 halftime advantage. The Bulldogs fumbled twice, were intercepted twice and had a punt blocked for a TD in the opening half.

After stopping the Bulldogs on the initial possession of the contest, the Oilers cashed in with their first touchdown of the afternoon by driving 48 yards in seven plays capped by a short two-yard scoring run from freshman back Monterea Williams.

The Bulldogs fumbled the football on the ensuing possession and the Oilers converted a 28-yard field goal take a 10-0 lead with 6:53 left in the first frame.

Findlay increased its lead to 17-0 only 1:40 later as the Oilers blocked a FSU punt from deep it its own end and Gerald Mathis recovered in the back of the endzone for a 17-0 lead at the 5:13 mark of the quarter.

The Oilers tacked on another TD with 57 seconds left in the opening quarter after the Bulldogs had fumbled the kickoff return on a two-yard scoring pass from Andrew Beam to Terrance Schaefer, which finished a seven-play drive covering only 34 yards.

FSU quarterback Tom Schneider was then intercepted with 18 seconds left in the initial quarter and the ball was returned 27-yards by Bryon Rizzi for yet another Oiler TD in the opening stanza.

Findlay's lead grew to 38-0 with 10:23 left in the half on a 76-yard TD pass from Beam to Mike Chambers.

In the opening half, the Oilers netted 10 first downs on 219 total yards with 126 coming on the ground, including 111 yards from Williams on 20 carries.

Meanwhile, Ferris was limited to only 73 yards on 25 plays in the half. FSU totaled only three yards on 11 offensive plays in the opening quarter until the final play of the period.

Ferris finally cracked the scoreboard in the third period with 7:09 to go as sophomore QB Tom Schneider found junior receiver Matt Schuelke open in the endzone for a 17-yard score and his first collegiate TD.

The Oilers tallied a fourth-quarter field goal and a bad FSU punt snap resulted in a safety to account for the final margin.

Findlay racked up 431 yards of total offense and 22 first downs compared to only 128 yards and nine first downs for FSU. The Oilers finished with 292 yards on the ground as Williams ran for a game-high 196 yards on 33 attempts.

Schneider completed nine-of-18 passes for 75 yards in leading Ferris. Junior Tyler Thomas added 39 rushing yards on four carries and Mike Ryan totaled two catches for 21 yards.

Beam threw for 139 yards for the Oilers on 10-of-20 passing and two scores. Chambers caught three balls for 87 yards.

Defensively, senior middle linebacker Nick Butler compiled 12 tackles and senior safety Santino Favot netted 11 stops for FSU. Joe Knopick paced Findlay with nine tackles.

The Bulldogs dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in GLIAC play this campaign with their second-straight loss. UF remains unbeaten with the win at 3-0 overall and 2-0 in league action.

FSU returns home to host archrival and nationally number one-ranked Grand Valley State in the Anchor-Bone Classic next Saturday (Sept. 19) evening. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at Ferris' Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids.