COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's defense smothered Hillsdale, holding the Chargers to 130 total yards, and the eighth-ranked Panthers earned a 9-3 victory in a physical GLIAC matchup Saturday afternoon at Panther Stadium.

Junior safety Brad McCurdy (Columbus, Ohio) made a diving interception of a desperation pass near midfield in the game's waning moments to seal the victory for ODU, the 21st consecutive regular season win for the Panthers.

The Panthers improved to 6-0 (6-0 GLIAC), while the Chargers fell to 2-4 (2-3 GLIAC).

Hillsdale entered the day averaging 426.4 yards of offense and were second in the GLIAC in passing offense (253.6 yards per game). ODU, though, limited the Chargers to 27 yards rushing on 27 attempts, and Hillsdale quarterback Mark LaPrairie completed just 8-of-24 throws for 103 yards on the afternoon.

A trio of short field goals by junior Brent Wahle (Pataskala, Ohio) accounted for the Panthers' scoring on the afternoon. He hit from 27 yards on ODU's opening drive to make it 3-0, and hit from 23 yards with 31 seconds left in the first half to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead at the break.

Hillsdale drove inside the Panther red zone at the start of the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead, but ODU held the visitors to a 28 yard field goal with 12:04 to play, cutting the score to 6-3.

Both teams swapped punts, and with 4:34 left in the game ODU started a drive on the Charger 44 yard line. Freshman Aaron Everson (Bartlett, Ill.) ran for 17 yards to the Hillsdale 27, then later picked up a first down on a fourth-and-one carry to the HC 12. Hillsdale burned all three of its timeouts, and Wahle's kick from 28 yards split the uprights with just 44 seconds to play in the game.

Sophomore Paul Wesselhoeft (Logan, Ohio) had a sack on Hillsdale's first play after the kickoff, and three plays later McCurdy came up with the interception to seal the win for ODU.

The Panthers totaled 376 yards of offense and had 20 first downs to Hillsdale's eight. ODU controlled the clock, running 83 offensive plays to Hillsdale's 51 and holding on to the football for 36:20.

Senior quarterback Mark Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) completed 23-of-38 passes for 222 yards. Senior Nick McKnight (Middletown, Ohio) had career highs in receptions (seven) and yards (77), while junior Dez Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished with seven catches for 68 yards.

Junior Brandon Schoen (Lewis Center, Ohio) ran for 53 yards and had 22 yards receiving as well.

McCurdy led the defense with seven tackles and junior Warren Shields (Richwood, Ohio) had six. ODU had four sacks on the day, with Di'Andre Harrison (Columbus, Ohio), Sydney Omameh (Westerville, Ohio) and DeWayne Clemmons (Indianapolis, Ind.) each recording one in addition to Wesselhoeft.

ODU's defense has now allowed just those three points in its last seven quarters of football.

The nine points scored, meanwhile, are the fewest by the Panthers in a victory in school history and the first time they've been held to less than 10 points since Oct. 2, 2010 at Michigan Tech.

The Panthers face off against No. 13 Ferris State on Homecoming at 1 p.m. Saturday at Panther Stadium.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu