ALLENDALE, Mich. – A wild fourth quarter rally, featuring two 90 yard touchdown drives, lifted No. 10 Ohio Dominican past No. 18 Grand Valley State 28-24 in front of over 15,000 fans at Lubbers Stadium Saturday night.

The victory extended the Panthers' regular season win streak to 17 consecutive games as ODU moved to 2-0 (2-0 GLIAC). Grand Valley fell to 0-2 (0-1 GLIAC).

Down 24-14 in the fourth, senior quarterback Mark Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) hooked up with junior Ronald McCloud (Cleveland, Ohio) on a 54 yard pass play to the Laker 17. Junior Brandon Schoen (Olentangy, Ohio) carried off the left side for 15 yards, then walked into the end zone from two yards out on the next play to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 6:08 left.

The defense forced a three and out, and the Panthers started the next drive on their own nine with 3:39 to play. After a short gain on first down, junior Dez Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio) got free behind two defenders and Miller hit him in stride near the 45 yard line, and Stewart took it to the house for the touchdown and a 28-24 lead.

ODU's defense came up huge again, as junior Di'Andre Harrison (Columbus, Ohio) had a sack on fourth down that gave the Panthers the ball back at the Laker 14 yard line. However, Miller was intercepted in the end zone, giving the Lakers another chance with 1:21 left.

But the defense stood tall one last time, yielding just one first down via a penalty before junior Billy Eakins (Pickerington, Ohio) swatted down a fourth down pass down the near sideline.

Two years ago, the Panthers saw a furious fourth quarter rally fall just short at Lubbers Stadium as Grand Valley connected on a last minute touchdown pass to escape with a 46-41 win. This time, ODU was able to close the deal in the contest between the projected winners of the conference's North and South Divisions.

The loss was just the sixth at home for Grand Valley in the regular season since 2001 (87-6).

The Panthers finished with 430 yards of offense, with 259 of those coming in the second half.  The Panthers held Grand Valley to just 318 yards, 82 of which came in the second half, and just 26 rushing yards.

Schoen ran for 183 yards and two scores, while Miller threw for 238 and the touchdown to Stewart. Stewart tallied 114 yards and McCloud had 82 yards receiving.

Junior Austin Osborne (Jackson, Ohio) had a career-high 11 tackles and Da'Twane Harris (Cleveland, Ohio) totaled 10 stops. Junior Cody Culbertson (Galloway, Ohio) made seven tackles (2.0 for loss, 1.0 sacks).

The Panthers got off to a quick start in the first quarter. Harrison broke free through the Grand Valley line to cleanly block a punt, and junior Sydney Omameh (Westerville, Ohio) scooped it and ran untouched into the end zone to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

GVSU answered with a nine-play touchdown drive on its next possession, tying the score with 7:03 to play in the first quarter.

On ODU's third offensive possession, Grand Valley crowded the line of scrimmage, but Schoen took a handoff and burst through the line, stiff armed a defender around the 40 and was off to the races for an 88 yard touchdown run. It was the longest run in school history, surpassing his 85 yard touchdown scamper at Northern Michigan in 2013.

The Lakers took advantage of great field position later in the quarter as they pinned ODU on its 1 yard line, and after forcing the Panthers to punt, took over on ODU's 24. Four plays later, they scored on a one yard TD run to tie the game at 14-14 with 33 seconds left in the first.

Two special teams miscues in the second quarter helped give the Lakers the lead, though. ODU misfired on a 37 yard field goal attempt, then fumbled a punt in its own territory. That led to a 19 yard touchdown pass for Grand Valley, giving the Lakers a 21-14 lead with 8:22 to play.

ODU's defense came up with a big stand at the end of the half, though, as Billy Eakins intercepted a screen pass inside the Panther 10 yard line with less than 10 seconds to play, keeping the deficit at seven.

The Lakers kicked a 35 yard field goal to take a 24-14 lead in the third quarter, and the Panthers had a drive stall in GVSU territory late in the quarter.

ODU moved again into Laker territory in the fourth, but was stopped on fourth and one at the Laker 37 with 11:10 left. But the defense continued making stops to give the Panthers a chance late.

Ohio Dominican returns home to host Ashland at noon on Saturday at Panther Stadium.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu