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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After a solid all-around performance in the season opening win against Saint Joseph's, Ohio Dominican's football team will look to carry that momentum forward as the Panthers begin conference play with a roadtrip to GLIAC North Division foe Northwood.
In ODU's 32-20 win over Saint Joseph's, the Panthers racked up 447 yards of offense, including 254 yards on the ground, the second-best total in school history. Senior Mike Noffsinger accounted for 117 of those yards and became the school's all-time rushing leader, surpassing Nathan Clark on the all-time list. Senior Jeremy Fudge threw for a career-high 193 yards and ran for 67, and senior Tyler Purcell had a 59 yard TD run.
The defense bent but did not break, despite allowing 337 yards passing. ODU limited the Pumas to just 72 yards rushing (2.8 per carry) and came up with a pair of interceptions. Junior Eisen Hardy had 11 stops and a pick and junior Jeff White had the other interception. In their first games as Panthers, senior Ricardo Thompson had 10 tackles and freshman Tyrone Patel made eight.
ODU excelled in all facets of special teams, led by senior Chris Vortkamp, who drilled three field goals, two PATs and averaged 52.5 on his four punts, matching his career long with a 67 yarder. Freshman Cody Culbertson blocked a punt, senior Brandon Robinson had a 28 yard punt return and ODU averaged 23 yards on its kick returns.
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 www.ohiodominicanpanthers.com. This week's broadcast starts at 11:30 a.m. with the Panther Countdown Pregame Show. Veteran broadcaster Todd Bell returns for his fourth year in the booth as the play-by-play announcer and is joined by former Buckeye A.J. Trapasso in the booth.
THE SERIES
Northwood leads the all-time series 1-0 after scoring a 28-12 win at Panther Field on Sept. 11, 2010. Mike Noffsinger ran for 154 yards and scored on a blocked punt, but ODU's offense could not find the end zone, turning the ball over in the red zone once and settling for two short field goals. ODU also had two punts blocked. Kevin Guthrie made 15 tackles to lead the defense, and Eisen Hardy had seven tackles and an interception.
VALUABLE VORTKAMP
No kicker in school history has made more field goals than Chris Vortkamp, who broke the record in 2010 and now has 21 career makes after drilling three in week one. It was the second-career three-field goal game for the senior, who tied his own school record that he shares with Mitch Croy.
Vortkamp also had a superlative week punting the football, leading Division II with an average of 52.5 yards on his four punts, including matching his career long with a 67 yard blast. His average was the fourth-best amongst all NCAA punters, regardless of division. Three of his four punts were longer than 50 yards, and the fourth was a 39 yarder downed at the SJC one yard line. Three punts went inside the 20, and he has now placed 14 of his 17 career punts inside the 20.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
