COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's football team battled with ninth-ranked Wayne State but came up on the short end of a 31-24 decision in front of an overflow Homecoming crowd of 1,857 at Panther Field.

A 46-yard touchdown toss from freshman quarterback Mark Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) to classmate Brandon Ojikutu (Cleveland, Ohio) with seven seconds left made it a seven point game, but the Panthers could not recover the onside kick as the Warriors held on for the win.

ODU fell to 2-2 (1-2 GLIAC), while Wayne State improved to 4-0 (3-0 GLIAC).

Senior running back Mike Noffsinger (West Branch, Mich.) had his fourth straight 100 yard rushing game to start the year, hitting that number on the nose on 22 carries, while senior quarterback Jeremy Fudge (Eaton, Ohio) ran for 64 yards and threw for 107 and a touchdown. The Panthers ran for 213 yards as a team against a Wayne State defense that had allowed just 60 yards rushing per game in its first three contests.

Sophomore Justin Bell (Groveport, Ohio) matched a career-high with 10 tackles and forced a fumble, and senior Jeff White (Gahanna, Ohio) also had 10 tackles to lead the Panther defense. ODU forced three fumbles and recovered two of them.

Wayne State took a 7-0 lead midway through the first, marching 95 yards in just seven plays for the first score. After a Panther punt, WSU threatened again but turned the ball over on downs at the Panther 30 yard line to close the first quarter.

ODU's offense, after being held to just 16 yards in the opening quarter, answered on its ensuing possession. The Panthers picked up three third-down conversions, including a 28-yard run by Fudge on third-and-two, to set up the team in scoring position. Two plays later, Fudge escaped the pocket, rolled left and lofted a pass into the back of the end zone and into the hands of senior wide out Tyler Purcell (Franklin, Ohio) for a touchdown.

Wayne State responded with a touchdown drive of its own to take a 14-7 lead with 5:16 to go before half, but again the Panther offense had an impressive drive. Noffsinger ran for 20 yards on third-and-two, and Fudge ran for 12 yards on a third-and-one to again bring ODU into the red zone, and Noffsinger plunged into the end zone from two yards out to even the score at 14 with 2:02 left. Wayne State, though, would tack on a field goal with three seconds to go before half to take a 17-14 lead into the break.

The Panthers responded quickly to tie it in the third quarter, though, as Fudge faked a handoff and found Purcell streaking down the left side for a 53-yard completion to set up a 31 yard field goal by Chris Vortkamp (Cincinnati, Ohio) to knot the score.

The Warriors responded with a touchdown on their next drive and tacked on another score early in the fourth to build their 31-17 advantage. ODU drove into Wayne State territory but turned the ball over on downs with 2:16 to go, but did get it back to have Miller hook up with Ojikutu for his first career touchdown.

Ohio Dominican remains at home next Saturday for a noon kickoff against Michigan Tech at Panther Field.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu