Oilers Stun Golden Tigers
Findlay, OH – The University of Findlay football team earned a shutout victory for the first time since 2014 on Saturday, Sep. 23 at Donnell Stadium. The Oilers welcomed in the Tuskegee Golden Tigers from the state of Alabama and promptly defeated them 61-0 on the strength of 55 first half points. With the win, the Oilers improve to 3-1 on the year while the Golden Tigers fall to 2-2. The 61-0 win is the largest shutout win for Findlay since 1994 when the Oilers took down Lindenwood by a score of 70-0 and is the second game in a row in which the Oilers put up more than 50 points and had over 500 yards of offense including 55 points in the first half, the most points in a half in the Rob Keys era and the first time since 1997 against St. Xavier that the Oilers have eclipsed the 60-point mark.
The Findlay defense which came in allowing 450 yards per game, held the Golden Tigers to just 169 yards of offense including just 40 yards of rushing. On the flip side, the Oilers offense put up 581 yards of offense on 294 yards rushing and 287 yards of passing. The home team also had more sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles, completions, and possessed the ball for more than 38 minutes.
One area where the Oilers dominated is in the red zone. Against a team that allowed red zone scoring just 40% of the time, Findlay was 5-for-6 in the red zone with the only miss coming in the fourth quarter due to taking a knee to run out the clock.
Junior Rhys Gervais completed 13-of-14 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns. His leading receiver was junior Jacob Hill who caught five balls for 88 yards and one score.
Senior Daouda Sylla was again the leading rusher. He picked up 148 yards on 15 rushes. He scored two touchdowns while junior Michael Campbell scored three touchdowns on the ground.
Leading the defense, which put together one of its best performances since Keys has been head coach, was senior Johnny Hopkins. He had six tackles in the game which included two sacks and three tackles for loss. Junior Justice Jenkins also had a good game with a half tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and an interception.
In the game, the Oilers scored five rushing touchdowns which is a Great Midwest record.
Findlay will go back on the road on Sep. 30 when they take on Walsh University in Canton. That game, the first ever Great Midwest contest for the Oilers football team, will begin at 1:00 pm.