No. 25 Oilers back at home against Saints

The University of Findlay football team comes into Saturday night's game with Thomas More with an unblemished 3-0 record. They also enter nationally ranked. UF is the No. 25 team in the most recent Division II AFCA poll. Oilers coach Kory Allen said the ranking has no impact on his squad. "I don't think anyone's opinion outside the program matters to us, whether it's positive or negative," Allen said. "It's easy to focus on blocking out negative criticism, but also the positive, none of it has any effect on what we're doing, and we just need to do our job and show up on Saturday and execute." Who will be quarterbacking Saturday at Donnell Stadium appears uncertain. Chase Harrison was the Oilers starting quarterback for the first three games, but was injured in the second offensive series last week at Lake Erie. Andrew Leonard played the rest of the game at QB, and led Findlay to a 33-3 win over the Storm. Leonard, a freshman from Olentangy Liberty, went 17 of 26 passing for 195 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. "I thought he showed great poise, I thought he made good decisions," Allen said of Leonard. "I didn't think the moment was too big for him, so we're proud of the way he stepped in and handled it. I was also really pleased with the way the team rallied around him, offensively, defensively and special teams." Allen didn't say if Harrison or Leonard would start against Thomas More. We're very excited about Andrew Leonard … and we're excited about the report that we got on Chase," Allen said. "We're looking forward to being effective on offense on Saturday." One thing that has been effective all season has been the Oilers defense. Findlay has allowed a total of six points in the last two games. "Discipline is the name of the game, putting players in a position to make plays, and then, being where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there," Allen said. "You do that, you do that with a physicality, good things happen." That defense will be going against a Thomas More team that is not only 0-3, but has yet to score a touchdown. But Thomas Moore has had some tough competition. In its first season as a full-fledged Division II program, the Saints opened 2025 with games against a pair of Division I FCS teams, Southern Illinois and Dayton. Last week, in its G-MAC opener, Thomas More lost to Northwood, 10-6. The Saints have yet to play a home game this season. "I think they're a physical football team," Allen said. "They're physical on both fronts, offensive and defensive line. I think they run to the football on defense, they get after you up front with their offensive line." The game will kickoff at 7 p.m. at Donnell Stadium. It's the Oilers' first home night game is four years. To mark the occasion, the program is asking fans to show up in black clothing. "Night games are always special, a little bit of fun there," Allen said. "We're having a blackout, so we want to deck Donnell Stadium out in all black, and cheer on these guys. They're a group that you can root for both on and off the field."