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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In the midst of its toughest stretch of games in the program's seven-year history, Ohio Dominican's football team seeks its first win of the 2010 campaign against Findlay on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Panther Field. ODU will honor all military veterans in attendance at Saturday's game and is also collecting items for a canned food drive to support local food pantries.
The Panthers stood toe-to-toe against ninth-ranked Hillsdale last Saturday before the Chargers pulled away with a 35-10 win. Using the legs of quarterback Jeremy Fudge, making just his second career start, ODU put together a long scoring drive that resulted in a field goal by Chris Vortkamp to give the Panthers a 3-0 heading into the second quarter.
Hillsdale, which possesses one of the most prolific offenses in the country, wasted no time responding, putting together three touchdown drives in the second quarter to take the momentum and a 21-3 lead into halftime. But the Panthers didn't go quietly, as Fudge threw a jump ball to Tyler Maddox, who outmuscled a Charger corner for the catch and raced 75 yards to the end zone to cut the Hillsdale lead to 21-10 midway through the third quarter.
The Chargers proved to be too much in the end, though, dashing Ohio Dominican's upset bid with a touchdown on their ensuing drive and another score in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Fudge finished the day with 144 yards rushing and 113 yards passing as the Panthers generated a season-high 305 yards of offense, including 192 yards rushing. Maddox led the receivers with four catches for 91 yards and the touchdown.
Defensively, the Panthers managed to sack Hillsdale quarterback Troy Weatherhead five times after he had been brought down just eight times in the team's first five games. Tony Weisent led the way with two of those sacks. James Dews and Jeff White had a game-high 12 tackles, Vincent Vasquez made 11 stops and Jason McCurdy finished with 10 tackles to lead ODU's defense.
ALL OHIO DOMINICAN FOOTBALL GAMES LIVE ON THE RADIO AND INTERNET
Fans in Central Ohio can listen to Ohio Dominican football LIVE on the radio on 1580 AM (St. Gabriel Radio) and simulcast online everywhere at panthers.ohiodominican.edu. This week's broadcast starts at 12:30 p.m. with the Panther Countdown Pregame Show. Veteran broadcaster Todd Bell returns for his third year in the booth as the play-by-play announcer and is joined by John Westenhaver as the color commentator and Ashton Cooper on the sidelines.
THE SERIES
This is the first meeting between the two teams. Tiffin and Lake Erie are the lone two schools on the schedule the Panthers have faced prior to 2010.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
