Listen Here
By Drake Facione
Email: facioned@findlay.edu
The Findlay Oilers held Senior Day this past Saturday at Donnell Stadium. The final home game of the season for the Oilers was a memorable one, as they took down Malone University with ease. 19 seniors played their final game in Findlay after many years of memories at Donnell and they added a couple more last Saturday.
Malone was the first team on the scoreboard early in the game. Findlay opened with an onside kick and did for most of the game to prevent Malone returner Ashton Dulin from having a big game. Malone recovered the onside kick and drove 61 yards in 7 plays to get the early 0-7 lead. From that point on, Findlay took control of the game.
Findlay answered back in a minute and a half, scoring in just four plays. It was Brian Benson, who had yet another incredible game, scoring nearly all of Findlay’s first-half touchdowns. His first came from 14 yards out to tie up the game. From there, the Oilers kept their foot on the gas.
Benson found himself in the end zone again, after a seven play, 76-yard march down the field. This gave the Oilers a 7-point lead. Malone answered a few minutes later with a field goal, but that was all Malone got for the majority of the game. The Oilers would put up 49 unanswered points before Malone scored again.
Findlay scored three times in the second quarter, with two rushing scores coming from Benson, giving him four touchdowns in the first half. The last touchdown came on a throw to Andrew Ogletree from Adam Bertke. This 10-yard pass brought the Oilers to a comfortable 35-10 lead heading into the break.
Nothing much changed for both teams in the second half. Findlay continued to flourish offensively, and Malone could not do much about it.
Three more touchdowns took place in the third quarter, the first coming from Luke Stuffel. The tight end caught a 39-yard pass from Bertke, bringing the score to 42-10.
Findlay’s defense played strong all game. The Oilers did not allow Malone a first down from the end of the first quarter to halfway through the third.
Each team scored once in the 4th quarter of play. Findlay scored first off of a Malone fumble deep in their own territory. Malone finally scored again after nearly three quarters of not being able to go anywhere. The game ended in a final score of 63-17.
The win was a dominant performance from Findlay all throughout the game. Both sides of the ball did what they needed to do to get their final home win for the seniors.
Even though it was Senior Day, sophomore running back Brian Benson had most of the attention on the stat line. He finished the day with 221 yards off of 25 carries and four touchdowns, all of which came in the first half. 221 rushing yards in a single half gives him a new record at Findlay. In addition, he had a 233-yard performance last week. This makes him the first player since 1985 to have back to back 200+ yard rushing games.
The Senior class as a whole had a great game in their last time playing at Donnell Stadium. Chauncey Bridges had 134 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Quarterback Adam Bertke had one of his most consistent games all season, throwing for 226 yards and two scores as he completed 15 of his 19 passes. Findlay’s all-time leading receiver Jason Moore had seven catches for 125 yards in his final game in Findlay.
Findlay’s win brings them to 7-3 on the season. They take on Tiffin in their final game of the season. This game is Saturday at Tiffin and kicks off at 1:05 p.m.
