Findlay Travels to Painesville for Final Road Contest
The Game
Findlay hits the road for the final time this year as they head to Painesville, Ohio to take on Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) opponent Lake Erie College. The game will kick off from Jack Britt Memorial Stadium at 12:00 pm.
The Series
Findlay and Lake Erie have met seven times since their initial matchup in 2010, a game Findlay lost 48-45. The Oilers have won six straight in the series and won last year's game by a score of 70-7.
Radio Coverage
Every Oilers football game will be broadcast on 88.3 WLFC and can be listed to locally on the radio or streamed online at WLFC.com.
Video Stream
Video streaming for the contest will be produced by Lake Erie College and aired on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
Click any of the options below to find the contest live:
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Head Coach Rob Keys
Head coach Rob Keys is in his ninth season at the helm of the Oilers football program in 2019. He has recorded a 61-36 record with the program as a head coach, which includes a 50-30 mark in conference games. He has coached Findlay to winning records in seven of his eight seasons including 2017 when he lead the Oilers to their first ever NCAA Division II Playoffs.
For Findlay's 2019 coaching staff, please click on the following link:
Findlay Oilers (5-3, 4-1 G-MAC)
A third loss was dealt to the Oilers last weekend by the no. 6 and Super Region 1 opponent Notre Dame Falcons which, based on the recent playoff selection process, all but ends Findlay's hopes of earning a berth in the postseason. However, with still two conference games remaining, the Oilers shot a G-MAC championship and a bid to the inaugural America's Crossroads Bowl are still very much within reach.
Quarterback Matt Winzeler has had a good year thus far, completing 145-of-265 passes (.547) for 1,735 and 15 touchdowns. His yards are third-best in the conference while his touchdowns rank second. Perhaps his most impressive stat is that he has not turned the ball over in five consecutive games. Winzeler's last interception was in week three against Ohio Dominican.
Findlay's rushing attack has been as good as advertised this season, despite missing all-American Brian Benson due to injury for a two-week stretch. This season, the Oilers are second in the league with 230 rushing yards per game and have scored 16 rushing touchdowns, third-most in the G-MAC. That attack has been led by Benson who has carried the rock 119 times for 707 yards and one touchdown. He is second in the league with 117.8 yards per game. Backup running back Nate Slagel looked like a back that would start for any other team in the league when called upon to fill in for Benson. In the three games that Benson had shortened, Slagel carried that ball 43 times for 337 yards and scored seven touchdowns which, after the Walsh contest, was good for top ten in the country in rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, Findlay's leading tackler has been Richard Sheler who currently ranks 14th in the G-MAC with 50 tackles and is eighth with 7.3 tackles per game.
Leading the turnover charge has been sophomore Christopher Jefferson who leads the nation with eight interceptions this season and has at least one pick in five of the Oilers' eight games thus far. Findlay's standout DB is also fourth on the team with 41 tackles.
2019 Season Statistics
2019 Roster
Lake Erie Storm (3-5, 2-3 G-MAC)
In looking at the young history of Lake Erie College football, there is not much that jumps off the page in terms of success. The Storm are on their third head coach in a four-year stretch and have just five wins since the start of 2016 including two winless seasons in the last four years. However, the 2019 brand of LEC football has at least a taste of winning associated with it as the Storm have piled together three wins this year, the first of which came in week four against Kentucky Wesleyan and ended a 16-game losing streak. Since that win, Lake Erie has added wins against Alderson Broaddus and Taylor University, an NAIA school in Indiana.
One thing that has helped make this team different that past squads is their ability to put points on the board. After back-to-back seasons where they averaged ten points per game, the Storm are putting up 26 points per game this year, the first time since 2015 that the Green and White have averaged at least 20 ppg. This offensive output includes three consecutive games of at least 35 points and 400+ yards of offense.
Much of that production has come out of the arm of quarterback Javarian Smith, a 2018 honorable mention all-G-MAC preformer. This season, Smith has completed 154 passes for 2,102 yards, one of just two QBs in the conference who have already reached the 2,000-yard mark. His 14 touchdown passes are third-most in the G-MAC while his efficiency rating of 136.6 is third behind Nick Watson of Tiffin and Evan Ernst of Ohio Dominican. Smith , who has played 665 snaps in his career, third-most all-time in conference history, is coming off a game against Tiffin in which he threw for a career-high 469 yards and this season, has four 300+ yard passing games.
Smith's two big weapons through the air have been wide receiver Nate Dantley Jr. and tight end Josh Hufstetler. Dantley, a sophomore, has 47 catches for 707 yards, the second-best yard total in the G-MAC. He's averaging 88 yards per game receiving and has three touchdowns. A junior, Hufstetler has 30 catches for 493 yards, the most in the league by a tight end, and is second in the conference with eight touchdown receptions.
Rushing the ball has not been a strength of the Storm, but they haven't exactly been inept either. Lake Erie is picking up just north of 100 yards per game and are led by their sophomore tailback, Eric Zokouri. This season, Zokouri has rushed the ball 129 times for 590 yards (4.6 yards per carry) and is averging 74 yards per game on the ground. He has scored five touchdowns and has yet to fumble the ball.
Defensively, the Storm are fueled by one man, Justin Growel. A junior, Growel has been a one-man wrecking crew since he stepped on campus at Lake Erie. Last year Growel earned second team all-conference and set a G-MAC record with 17.5 tackles-for-loss. This season, Growel has already topped that mark, amassing 18 TFL with still three games to play. He also has 6.5 sacks this season which rank third in the conference. Among Division II actives, Growel leads Division II and is second in all of the NCAA in tackles-for-loss per game at 1.97. To date, the Storm defensive end has 40.5 career TFL including 13.5 sacks. He also has four forced fumbles this year which lead the G-MAC.
Links
NCAA Division II Stats
NCAA
NCAA Division II Football
American Football Coaches Association
D2Football.com
Great Midwest