The Kent State football team battled rain, sleet and high winds in its 17-7 loss to Ohio Saturday.

The loss ends the Flashes five game winning streak and puts them in second place in the Mid-American Conference behind the Bobcats.

Ohio (6-3, 4-1 MAC), which now has the same MAC record as Kent State (5-3, 4-1 MAC), gets the tie-breaker lead from the victory.

The effects of the weather could be seen in the kicking game, resulting in excellent field position for the Bobcats. The Flashes averaged three yards per punt in the first half.

Ohio converted on two of three consecutive botched punts by the Flashes. Bobcats’ senior tailback Voncarie Owens scored on a 17 yard run after a negative-one-yard punt by the Flashes.

The second Ohio touchdown came after punter freshman Jake Kilroy fumbled the snap in the end zone. Senior defensive back Gary Ham recovered the fumble and rushed for 17 yards to avoid the saftey. The Bobcats took advantage of the field position, scoring off a 3-yard run by and junior tailback Kalvin McRae.

McRae led the Bobcats in rushing with 103 yards on 26 carries.

The Flashes scored with just more than eight minutes in the second quarter from an 8-yard pass to junior tight end Tom Sitko from sophomore quarterback Julian Edelman. The score was Sitko’s first career receiving touchdown for Kent State.

Edelman led the Flashes in passing and rushing. The touchdown to Sitko was his only completion in the first haf, but he finished the game with 7 complettions on 20 attempts and 79 total yards. He led all rushers with 121 yards on 23 carries.

Matt Lasher’s 30 yard field goal with 34 seconds left in the second concluded the Bobcat’s scoring.

Contact football reporter Deanna Stevens at [email protected]