Ohio Northern quarterback Patrick Angle threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to lead Team Stars & Stripes in a 31-17 loss to Mexico in the 2014 Tazon de Estrellas Saturday afternoon at the Templor del Dolor.
The Mexicans evened the series between the two countries at 3-3 with the victory, snapping the Americans' two-game winning streak.
Angle, who was one of the four captains for Team Stars & Stripes, finished the day 10-of-24 passing for 132 yards and a touchdown.
His TD pass came with 4:29 left in the opening period to Brendon Boerm of Central (Iowa) to tie the game at 7-7.
He later guided the Americans on an 11-play, 56-yard drive just before the half that ended on a 41-yard field goal by Kevin Sheldon of Central (Iowa) to make it a 17-10 Mexico at intermission.
"At the end of the day, I think I played OK," Angle said. "We moved the ball well at times, but were not consistent enough. It was really fun to play in the game, though. The atmosphere was terrific."
Mexico extended its lead to 31-10 with two scores in the first five minutes of the second half on scoring drives of 43 and 19 yards after a short punt and an interception.
"The first five minutes of the second half was the key to the game," Stars & Stripes head coach Don DeWaard said. "We had momentum going into halftime after the drive for a field goal and had the lead down to 17-10. But the short punt and the pick turned it into a 31-10 game. Our guys kept playing hard and we had a couple of chances to get back into it, but it wasn't meant to be. Our guys played hard and I'm proud of the effort we gave. With only 40 players and playing at 7,000-feet altitude, I think our guys got tired at times and that was a factor going against us."
But the story of the game was Mexico's quarterback Norman Contla, who was an incredible 40-of-52 passing for 352 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively for Ohio Northern, end Steven Kenny and linebacker Dillon Kwiat each had three tackles and end Adam Bestplayed well despite not having a tackle in the game.
"It was a great experience to spend a week in Mexico and represent the USA," Best said. "I will never forget the experiences from this week, both the game and the other things we got to do off the field."
"The Mexicans used quick passes and we were not really able to get much pressure on their quarterback," Kenny said. "I thought we played pretty well overall. Traveling to Mexico was fun and the community service experience we had was something that I will never forget."
"It was really fun to play in the game." Kwiat said. "I think we represented ourselves, the USA and Ohio Northern well. It was a great experience despite the final score of the game."
ONU offensive tackle Michael Howell played nearly the entire game after one of the three tackles in the rotation suffered a head injury early on and was not able to return.
"The game had highs and lows," Howell said. "There are a couple of plays I wish I had back. I ended up playing all but three series in the game, so that was fun. It was a good atmosphere, but the fans were definitely not on our side."
Mexico out-gained the USA 423-255 in total offense.
