Bowling Green defeated Ohio State in one of the longest continuously played rivalries in the Midwest, if not the United States; the series kicked off in 1968 when BG defeated OSU 5-3 in the Falcons' first ever match.

The Falcon ruggers beat Ohio State 26-16 this time around, marking BGSU's seventh straight victory over the Buckeyes.

Playing in St. Edward stadium in Lakewood, Ohio, and facing a stiff wind, the Falcons fell behind early and had to play catch-up against the Buckeyes in the first half. BG got tries from center Adam Regini and Cole Shaffer and a pair of conversions by fullback Mike Powell but trailed OSU 14-16 at the break. Buckeye scrumhalf Taylor Huff booted three penalty kicks and a conversion while center JoJo Eramo got OSU's only try.

"We knew all we had to do was keep it close until we got the wind at our backs," said BG captain Nick Ross. "Then we get off our back foot and spread the game out a bit." 

While having the wind helped, the unrelenting pressure applied by the Falcon's defense started causing bad passes and dropped balls in the Buckeye backfield. "I asked English coach Dave Larham to stress a lot of defense while he was here training us in August," commented BG coach Tony Mazzarella. "That paid off huge in the Ohio State match."

Larham, a coach trainer for the RFU and director of rugby for Oxfordshire,  is a personal friend of BG rugby director Roger Mazzarella and was asked to come over and work with the Falcons prior to the start of the season. Larham ran the Falcons through seven practices before enjoying a little R&R at Browns and Indians games, touring Gettysburg and finally critiquing the Falcon's match with West Virginia.

Big lock Kevin Andujar makes a break for the goal line with several Buckeyes in pursuit. Photo courtesy BGSU Rugby.

Flyhalf and captain Nick Ross showed why he is an All-American candidate when he slipped through a gap in the Buckeye defense to score a try. Wing Andrew Slonkosky took a the ball on a take-away in a ruck and won a foot race to the goal line. Powell's conversion gave the final points in the 26 - 16 win.

The Falcons open their Mid American Conference schedule with a home match this weekend against Northern Illinois at 1:00pm on Saturday at the College Park Rugby Field. The Huskies have been snakebit in their entire history against BG, having never won a match against the Falcons. At the last meeting of the two schools in 2014, BG came away with 60 - 10 and 45 - 0 victories.