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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After scoring a 31-14 victory over Tiffin last Saturday, Ohio Dominican's football team plays its final road contest of the 2012 season as the Panthers take on Lake Erie at 1 p.m. Saturday.
ODU sports a 2-2 record away from Panther Field this year, with both losses coming to nationally ranked opponents (38-20 at No. 25 Hillsdale; 46-41 at No. 4 Grand Valley). The Panthers defeated Findlay 63-31 and Notre Dame 45-7 in their two most recent road ventures and are looking for their second-straight season of achieving a winning record on the road in just their third year of GLIAC play.
In the victory over Tiffin, ODU jumped to a 14-0 lead before the Dragons answered, tying the game just over a minute before halftime. The Panthers went on a nine-play, 67-yard TD drive, culminating in a nine-yard TD toss from sophomore Mark Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) to freshman Dez Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio) moments before the half, and ODU shut out Tiffin in the second half to pull away with the win.
The Panthers had a 500-363 edge in total yards, reaching the 500-yard plateau in total offense for the sixth time in the past seven games, and also converted 8-of-14 third downs while limiting the Dragons to 3-of-13 on third down. ODU was also a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone while Tiffin failed to score in both of its red zone trips.
Miller set career highs in completions (22) and attempts (34) while throwing for 284 yards and a TD, and he also ran for a TD. Sophomore Abe Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio) had a career-best 154 yards receiving and senior Mark Nichols (Newark, Ohio) also set a career-high with 108 yards rushing.
Defensively, senior Ben Patterson (Parma, Ohio) had a career-high nine tackles (2.0 for loss) and a sack, while junior Justin Bell (Groveport, Ohio) also had nine stops with an interception, a sack, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Senior Matt Grieb (Newark, Ohio) tied a career-high with seven stops and junior Vince German (Newark, Ohio) had a career-best six tackles with a sack.
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 820 AM (St. Gabriel Radio) and simulcast online everywhere at www.pressboxproductions.net. This week's broadcast starts at 12:30 p.m. with the Panther Countdown Pregame Show. Veteran broadcaster Todd Bell returns for his fifth year in the booth as the play-by-play announcer and is joined by Matt Natali in the booth, while Scott Grady handles the pregame and halftime shows. Live video is also provided FREE for all six home games this season.
THE SERIES
Ohio Dominican has a 2-1 lead in the series that dates to 2009.
ODU notched a 38-30 win over the Storm at Panther Field last season, scoring 31 unanswered points in the second and third quarters before holding off a late rally. Jeremy Fudge accounted for all five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). The Panthers forced four turnovers and had great field position all day, with an average drive start of their own 41. Justin Bell had 14 tackles and Cody Culbertson made 13 stops with an interception.
DID YOU KNOW??????
>> ODU is 19-5 against opponents from Ohio since 2007.
>> 35 of ODU's 46 touchdowns have been scored by freshmen or sophomores.
>> In 2011, the Panthers averaged 380.6 yards of offense and allowed 406.1 yards on defense. In 2012, ODU is averaging 451.1 yards on offense and 353.9 yards on defense.
>> Freshman Tajuan Green (Columbus, Ohio) is second in the GLIAC with 10.1 yards of offense per play.
>> ODU's +15.9 scoring margin is second-best in the conference bhind Ashland.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
