COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Following a record-setting performance against Tiffin, Ohio Dominican's football team will try for a three-game winning streak as the Panthers take on GLIAC South Division foe Lake Erie at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Painesville.
ODU racked up a school-record 422 yards rushing, the sixth most of any Division II team in the country, and averaged 9.0 yards per carry in the 41-21 win over Tiffin. Leading the way was junior quarterback Jeremy Fudge with 174 yards and junior running back Mike Noffsinger with 171, while freshman running back Ronnel Spates had 65 yards. Noffsinger had touchdown runs of 62 and 56 yards and a touchdown catch of 74 yards, while Spates and Fudge also had touchdown runs as ODU scored the first 34 points of the game.
The defense limited Tiffin to 247 yards of total offense, including just 55 yards rushing. The Panthers registered season highs with six sacks and 12 tackles for loss, paced by senior defensive end Manju Jabbie's 2.5 sack, 4.5 tackle for loss effort. Senior safety Jason McCurdy picked off two passes and freshman linebacker Vincent Vasquez made 14 tackles and forced a fumble as ODU forced five punts and two turnovers on Tiffin's first seven possessions.
Additionally, junior Chris Vortkamp made both of his field goal attempts to become the school record holder with 14 career makes. He's hit five straight field goals over the past three games.
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
Ohio Dominican leads the all-time series with Lake Erie, 1-0. The two teams met for the first time last year at Painesville in a wild 52-49 shootout. The teams combined for 1,258 yards of total offense, and the game came down to a recovered onside kick by ODU in the final seconds.
The stars of the game were both team's quarterbacks. ODU's Billy Griffin was 26-of-40 for 393 yards, while rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for three. Justin Campbell had 164 yards receiving and two scores, Mark Nichols ran for 82 yards and two TDs, and Jeff White set a then-school record with 18 tackles.
Lake Erie's Sean Bedevelsky was 24-of-40 for 337 yards and rushed for 85 yards.
