Oilers Look to Bounce Back Against Storm
The Game
The Oilers will travel to Painesville, Ohio for their second road game of the season to take on the Lake Erie College Storm. The game will begin at 1:00pm.
Sights and Sounds
All Oilers football games can be heard on 88.3 FM "WLFC" or on the internet via their web site. You can listen to the broadcast by clicking on the following link:
Live stats will also be available for all contests. A link to retrieve the live stats can be found on the schedule page of the website.
Coach Keys Weekly
Don't forget to tune into 88.3 FM "WLFC" for Coach Keys Weekly. The show is aired from 7-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday evenings.
Fans are also encouraged to send questions in for coach Keys through Twitter. Please send questions throughout the week on Twitter Tim Montgomery @Oilersonair.
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The Series
The Oilers are 3-1 against Lake Erie with their first meeting being played in 2010. That game ended in a 48-45 loss for Findlay, but since then, the Orange and Black have won three straight against the Storm. The teams last met in 2013 and Findlay, led by a UF record 317 rushing yards from Daiquone Ford, won at home 48-27.
Head Coach Rob Keys
Head coach Rob Keys is in his sixth season at the helm of the Oilers football program in 2016. He has recorded a 33-24 record with the program as a head coach, which includes a 29-23 mark in GLIAC games.
For Findlay's 2016 coaching staff, please click on the following link:
The Oilers
The Oilers head into the fourth week of the season after a 35-3 loss to the fifth ranked Ashland Eagles. It is the third time in the Rob Keys era that the Oilers have started a season 1-2. Findlay currently sits in third in the GLIAC South at 1-2.
Despite a pair of tough games, quarterback Rhys Gervais has been solid for the Oilers as he is still among the GLIAC leaders in multiple categories. He is first in the league with 66 pass completions, and second in attempts (106), yards (758), and yards per game (252.7). His favorite target thus far has been Jason Moore who is sitting in third in the league with 18 receptions.
2016 Season Statistics
2016 Roster
The Storm
The Lake Erie College Storm will come into the matchup with an 0-3 record, each of which have been conference games. This season marks the fourth time the Storm have started 0-3 in conference play since joining the GLIAC in the 2010-11 academic year.
On offense, the Green and White enter the game with one of the least potent offenses in the conference. They are putting up just 16.3 points per game and 302.3 yards of offense, both of which are 12th in the GLIAC. When they get in the red zone, they have struggled to score touchdowns. The Storm have scored just four touchdowns in nine trips to the red zone this year for 44%, again, good for 12th in the conference.
The offense is led by senior quarterback John Banyasz who is the team's leading passer and rusher. In the first game of the year, a three point loss to Northern Michigan, Banyasz reached the century mark in both categories. He threw for 147 yards while rushing for 108. It was the second time in his career he accomplished that feat (threw for 217 and rushed for 109 last year against Urbana).
Bonyasz' favorite target is sophomore Mitchel Tilley who, in three games played, has caught eight balls for 117 yards. No other receiver on the team has more than 55 yards.
Defensively in their three games, the Storm are giving up an average of 47.7 points per game, the most in the conference, and are one of just three teams to have allowed more than 100 points. Findlay is one of those three at 103 points allowed. The Storm are also allowing the most yards per game at 556.0 and rushing yards per game at 320.3. They also have the least amount of sacks with one.
The only all-GLIAC player on the squad is on defense, seinor Maurice Hale. He earned honorable-mention a year ago and is currently leading the team with 21 tackles. The defensive back also has a tackle-for-loss and is tied for the team lead with three pass breakups.
2016 Season Statistics
2016 Roster
Record Watch: Rhys Gervais
In his second year as the Oilers signal caller, Rhys Gervais already has his name all over the Findlay record books. Last year he set multiple season records; passing yards (3,353), completions (228), pass attempts (362), total offense (3,439), and passing touchdowns (33).
After this outstanding first season, Gervais' name can also be found in the career record book, as well. He is currently seventh at UF with 468 pass attempts and is chasing the mark of 493 set by DeMya Wimberly (1989-92) for sixth. He is sixth in pass completions with 292 and again, could move into the top spot as Gervais is just 125 completions shy of Crooks' mark of 387. He is chasing Bryan Hieber (1999-00) for fifth. Hieber completed 300 passes in his career.
Perhaps most impressive is the amount of yards Gervais has thrown for in his short time as the quarterback. Rhys currently sits in fourth at UF with 4,111 yards, just 812 yards shy of the record set by Bo Hurly from 1994-1997. Gervais is chasing Clay Belton (2011-12) for third. Belton threw for 4,368 yards.
Gervais also sits in sole possession of third all-time at UF for touchdown passes in a career. He currently has 39 and is chasing 1979 graduate Paul Trina, who threw 43 touchdowns in his career, for second.
Record Watch: Dylan Blunk
Senior wide receiver Dylan Blunk ranks eighth all time at Findlay with 114 receptions after leading the team last year with 65 receptions. He can quickly move into sixth place, needing to reach 119 to pass Darren Paige (117 / '07) and Andy Witker (118 / '04).
Blunk is also nearing the top in receiving yards in a career as he currently ranks seventh all-time with 1,455 yds. If he can duplicate his 839 yard performance from a season ago, he will move into second all-time.
GLIAC Preseason Poll: The Oilers were picked to finish fourth in the GLIAC South Division this year, receiving 13 total points in the annual coaches poll. They trailed Tiffin University (19), Ohio Dominican (19) and Ashland University (25) in the South Division poll.
Grand Valley State University was tabbed as the favorite to win the North Division as the Lakers, ranked third in the country to begin the season, racked up a league-high 47 points.
Links
NCAA Division II Stats
NCAA
NCAA Division II Football
American Football Coaches Association
D2Football.com
GLIAC