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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Following a hard-fought 46-41 setback to No. 4 Grand Valley, Ohio Dominican's football team returns to Panther Field for a Homecoming showdown with former MSFA rival Walsh at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Walsh, which is now in its first year of competing in the GLIACand NCAA Division II, enters the game with a 1-3 mark (0-3 GLIAC), while the Panthers are 2-2 (1-2 GLIAC), with both losses coming on the road to nationally ranked opponents.
ODU roared back from a 40-20 deficit in the fourth quarter to puta major scare in the host Lakers on Saturday. Sophomore Mark Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) found senior Andy Mick (Hamilton, Ohio) down the seam for a 60-yard touchdown toss, and following a Brad McCurdy interception, Miller hooked up with sophomore Nick McKnight (Middletown, Ohio) for a 40-yard bomb that cut the deficit to 40-34 with just over nine minutes to play.
The defense came up with a three-and-out, and freshman Brandon Schoen (Olentangy, Ohio) had runs of 14, 52 and five yards to move the Panthers to the Laker four. Miller kept it himself on the next play to put ODU on top 41-40 with just over six minutes.
However, Grand Valley would answer with a touchdown with 1:16 left, and the Panthers' last gasp drive ended in a turnover.
ODU racked up 630 yards of offense, the fourth-most in school history, and gouged GVSU for 395 on the ground, the most the Lakers had ever yielded. Schoen obliterated the school single-game rushing record with 298 yards on 27 carries, which is the most of any player in Division II this fall.
Miller threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns, and he has seven touchdown passes in his past two games. Mick had career bests in catches (four) and yards (91) while recording his first TD, and McKnight hauled in four passes for 67 yards.
ALL OHIO DOMINICAN FOOTBALL GAMES LIVEON 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'sbroadcast starts at 6:30 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 seventh matchup between Walsh and Ohio Dominican, the most times that ODU has faced an opponent since the program'sinception in 2004. The Cavaliers own a 4-2 advantage in the series, though the Panthers have won two of the past three meetings.
The two teams last met on Sept. 19, 2009, with Walsh taking down the then-No. 20 ranked Panthers 23-16 in Canton. The Cavaliers ran for 249 yards and outgained ODU 365-253. In the two previous matchups, ODU notched wins of 56-20 (2007) and 24-22 (2008).
DID YOU KNOW?????
>> ODU is 15-4 against opponents from Ohio since 2007.
>> 133 of Ohio Dominican's 165 points scored this season have been scored by freshmen or sophomores.
>> GLIAC teams are averaging 32.4 points per game, the second-most of any conference in the country.
>> The Panthers have had six one-play touchdown drives this season.
>> Current West Virginia head men's basketball coach Bob Huggins spent three years as the head coach at Walsh, compiling a 71-26 mark in the early 1980s.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
