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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With the preseason camp winding down, Ohio Dominican's football team looks to carry over its momentum from the 2011 campaign into its season-opener at 1 p.m. Saturday at Panther Field against Virginia-Lynchburg.
Ohio Dominican will try to duplicate its second-half success from last year, when the Panthers won five of their final six games, including victories against nationally ranked Hillsdale and regionally ranked Ashland and Indianapolis.
To do so, ODU will rely on a veteran core of returners mixed with young talent at the skill positions. The Panthers return 17 players who started at least one game last season. Four of ODU's offensive linemen are back, highlighted by all-conference players Tyler White (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Andrew Carpenter (Cincinnati, Ohio), and the Panthers have running backs with experience in Mark Nichols (Pataskala, Ohio) and Ronnel Spates (Cleveland, Ohio) to help carry the load of replacing Harlon Hill Trophy Candidate Mike Noffsinger.
Quarterback Mark Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) will have some firepower on the outside with veterans Tyler Maddox (Lewistown, Ohio) and Andy Mick (Hamilton, Ohio) leading the receivers, as well as young faces in Abe Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio), Nick McKnight (Middletown, Ohio) and others stepping in to replace all-conference wide out Tyler Purcell.
The defensive side of the ball has more experience, particularly in the secondary, a unit that combined to make 41 starts last season. Playmakers in Justin Bell (Columbus, Ohio) and Eisen Hardy (Pickerington, Ohio), both All-GLIAC picks, return, as does the trio of Jeff White (Gahanna, Ohio), Dominic Clegg (Powell, Ohio) and Cody Culbertson (Galloway, Ohio).
The defensive line is led by stalwart Eli Kovach (Eastlake, Ohio), who will be flanked by several underclassmen that have earned their chance to shine along the front, and the linebacking corps is paced by Kevin Guthrie (Gahnna, Ohio), Matt Grieb (Newark, Ohio) and Martavius Lewis (Wellington, Fla.).
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
This is the first all-time meeting between Ohio Dominican and Virginia-Lynchburg. The Dragons are one of four first-time opponents for ODU this season, joining Northern Michigan (Sept. 15), Grand Valley State (Sept. 22) and Notre Dame (Oct. 20) as making first appearances on the Panther schedule.
DID YOU KNOW?????
>> Ohio Dominican is 5-3 all-time in season openers and 3-2 when opening the season at home.
>> Ohio Dominican has never faced an opponent from Virginia.
>> The Panthers are 20-11 in non-conference games all-time, including a 19-6 mark since 2006 (counting playoffs.)
>> Dating to last season, Ohio Dominican has converted nine straight fourth downs and 10 of its past 11 attempts. The Panthers led the GLIAC in that category in 2011.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
