Eight quarters, seven points.
That's been the story of Heidelberg's defense through the first two games.
Because of the way most football box scores are constructed, it's easy to get caught up in the offense of the Student Princes' 43-7 win over Ohio Northern Saturday in Ada.
Quarterback Michael Mees threw for 346 yards. Running Back Cartel Brooks ran for 184. Donteea Dye had five catches for 146.
In fact, if you rely on the box, all you will see is that outside linebacker Adam Cepik had a pick six, that Ohio Northern punted 10 times, and that HU had four interceptions overall.
OK, that alone is pretty impressive.
But here are some things the box score won't tell you.
* Ohio Northern's offense was inside Heidelberg's 20 three times, and came away with no points.
* Cepik finished with two interceptions, a pass break up, and assisted on a tackle for a loss.
* Heidelberg defensive end Stephen Fejedelum was in pure beast mode. Two sacks, seven tackles and a forced fumble.
* Nose tackle Ben Poirier had two sacks and broke up a pass. Overall, HU sacked ONU quarterbacks Tyler Rue five times and Tate Humphrey once.
* Justin Suddeth and Cale Sandridge also had an interception for HU.
* Austin Bentz, a Columbian graduate, started at corner and had a pair of tackles.
Heidelberg coach Mike Hallett, who five years ago took over a program that had lost 36 straight games and just guided the Student Princes to its first win in an OAC opener since 1997, wasn't ready to call his defense dominant.
"Our guys understand our system," Hallett said. "Our entire football team has the idea we're gonna run well and we're gonna tackle. Could they be an excellent defense? Absolutely, and they're emerging as one."
Heidelberg last won in Ada in 1993, before most of the members of this team were born. And so far, the Student Princes have done their damage away from Mayer Field. They won't even play their first home game for almost two weeks.
As a result, we've been reading the results and looking at the stats, but we haven't actually seen how good this team is.
Maybe that's why it's hard for me to really believe what's happening here. It wasn't that long ago that Heidelberg was on the receiving end of what it dished out today. And while Heidelberg had some potent offenses in Hallett's early years, it hasn't had a defense like this.
Two years ago, Heidelberg allowed almost 32 points a game.
Through two games this year, Heidelberg's defense has allowed seven points.
Offense livens up a box score and makes the highlight videos, but, as they say, defense win championships.
The Student Princes have a long way to go before we can even talk about that, but it is remarkable to think how far this program - and how far this defense - has come.
Zach Baker is the sports editor of The Advertiser-Tribune.
Contact him at:
zbaker@
