COLUMBUS , Ohio – The NAIA No. 24 ranked Ohio Dominican Panthers returned to form on Saturday as they defeated former Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) rival Urbana University , 56-0. The Panthers saw three records fall in front of a crowd of 1,278 fans; including the NAIA national career touchdown mark and passing yards record along with ODU record for sacks in a game and three straight 100-yard rushing games.
With four touchdown strikes, quarterback Cris Reisert (Cincinnati, OH; pictured) set a new NAIA National record for career TD passes with 117. Reisert also surpassed the National record for yards passing in a career with 13,174 breaking the old mark of 13,036 held by Kirk Baumgartner of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Reisert finished the day connecting on 21-of-26 pass attempts for 381 yards and four scores.
ODU freshman running back Mike Noffsinger (West Branch, MI) also set a new school record with three straight 100-yard games after finishing the afternoon with 103 yards on 14 carriers and two touchdowns. Noffsinger also caught four passes for 30 yards and a TD.
The defense also got in on the record setting action as junior defensive end Fred Reeves (Cleveland, OH) tallied three sacks in the shutout victory, setting a new Ohio Dominican record for sacks in a single game.
Ohio Dominican was quick to get on the board as they went 27 yards on three plays as Reisert hooked up with Noffsinger from 13-yards out. The extra point sailed wide right to give ODU the 6-0 lead. The defense recorded their second straight three and out and it was Reisert back to work as he went 84 yards to freshman wide receiver Brandon Robinson (Eaton, OH) for the Panthers second score of the day. Mitch Croy's (Ottawa, OH) point after try was good to bring the score to 13-0.
ODU made it 21-0 with nine second remaining in the first quarter on a TD pass to senior Kyle Reichieldfer (Circleville, OH) from 45 yards out. A fumbled snapped led to ODU's Brian Babcock (Napoleon, OH) sneaking across for the 2-point conversation.
The Panthers defense continued to apply the pressure as they held the Blue Knights offense to 242 yards of offense and forced three turnovers. The Panthers harassed Urbana quarterback Evan Gahlert, forcing five sacks and one interception on the day. Reeve's was credited with three sacks and seniors Nick Yanko (Akron, OH) and Josh Fraley (Bellville, OH) accounted for the remaining two. ODU senior Tyler Klingensmith (Powell, OH) recorded two fumble recoveries and senior cornerback Nana Ansah (Silver Spring, MD) had an interception.
ODU's offense did the rest as they continued to score at will. Noffsinger collected his second touchdown of the afternoon on a nine yard scamper with 4:52 left in the second quarter. Heath Killilea (Gahanna, OH) reached the end zone as Reisert hit his fourth different target for a 15-yard touchdown.
Noffsinger found pay dirt for their third time early in the third quarter as he plunged for 1-yard to cap off an 11 play 67-yard drive. ODU's seventh touchdown came with 6:18 to go in the third as Joe Farfsing (Cincinnati, OH) shifted from his tight end position to fullback and snuck in from 2-yards out. The Panthers final score of the day came with 9:45 remaining as back-up quarterback Billy Griffin (Columbus, OH) scrambled to the right and found Reichieldfer for his second TD of the game.
The Panthers looked like the high octane offense everyone expected from this year as they piled up 606 yards of total offense on their way to their sixth victory of the season. Reisert and Griffin combined for 409 yards through the air and ODU had 197 yards on the ground led by Noffsinger's 7.4 yards per-carry.
Ohio Dominican (6-3, 3-2) will return to action next Saturday, November 15th as they travel to Canton , Ohio for a highly anticipated match-up with No. 10 ranked Malone University . Kick-off at Fawcett Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
