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Neither Ohio nor Miami were particularly good on the offensive side of the football this afternoon. In fact, one might even say that the offensive performances from these two were offensive to the senses.
Ohio won 17-7 and the seat gets a little more toasty for Chuck Martin.
Ohio and its 17th-string running backs did enough to take another Battle of the Bricks win in Yager Stadium, as it was the disruptive Bobcat defense that paved the road to victory. In all honesty Maleek irons and safety-turned back Bo Hardy did just fine with 60 and 50 yards respectively.
Ohio forced three first half turnovers and scored on a Greg Windham option keeper before going into the locker room up 10-0. Sebastian Smith did not haul in a reception until late in the third quarter for his only catch. Louie Servos hit a first-quarter field goal and had an early fourth-quarter attempt blocked by Miami's Josh Allen on a supremely-impressive play.
Billy Bahlgame got hurt toward the end of the first half and freshmen Noah Wezensky came on in relief of the starting QB. He got the RedHawks on the board with 4:17 left in the third on a third-and-6 pass to Ryan Smith, who powered his way into the end zone to pull Miami within three at 10-7.
The Bobcat 'backers were all over the place, Blair Brown and Chad Moore specifically. Brown made a boneheaded play late when he was initially called for targeting on a third-and-long sack by Tarell Basham with 4:01 to go. The call was reversed for some reason. Martin was livid and for good reason. Brown launched himself head first at a falling Wezenky and it was reversed. Okay then.
Miami punted. Then Ohio punted to the Miami 1-yard line.
The RedHawks subsequently turned the ball over when guess who? Brown, got to Wezenksy, wrapped him up, and forced the frosh QB to get rid of the ball in the end zone. Kevin Robbins secured the gift ball that fell into his chest to give Ohio its final scoring play.
The Bobcats have now won 10 of their last 11 games against the RedHawks.
Austin Gehring continues to show his metamorphosis from belittled quarterback to stud defensive end is going swimmingly. He registered 6 tackles and 3 sacks and was a big part of the RedHawk defense that gave Windham extreme issues. Heath Harding at corner was another one of those guys for Miami with an interception and nine tackles.