COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's defense forced three turnovers and senior kicker Brent Wahle (Pataskala, Ohio) tied a career high with four field goal makes as the Panthers defeated visiting Walsh 19-10 in GLIAC play Saturday afternoon.

Walsh had the ball with 4:42 left in the game trailing by nine and drove inside the ODU red zone before junior Marquise Tyus (Lakewood, Ohio) sealed the win with a diving interception at the four yard line.

The Panthers improved to 2-2 (2-2 GLIAC) while Walsh fell to 0-4 (0-4 GLIAC).

The defense finished with three sacks, eight tackles for loss and forced and recovered a pair of fumbles in addition to the interception. Sophomore linebacker Cameron Kohl (Hilliard, Ohio) made 10 tackles and a quartet of Panthers finished with seven stops, including Tyus and seniors Brad McCurdy (Columbus, Ohio), Da'Twane Harris (Cleveland, Ohio) and Austin Osborne (Jackson, Ohio).

Sophomore Nick Isaacs (Cincinnati, Ohio) made three tackles (2.0 for loss) with a sack and forced a fumble.

Wahle made kicks of 31, 52, 20 and 25 yards. It's his third straight year he's hit four field goals against Walsh and the fourth time in his career. The 52 yarder was one shy of a career long.

Wahle's 31 yard field goal came early in the game after Isaacs forced a fumble that was recovered by senior Hunter Maynard (Ashville, Ohio) at the Walsh 22 yard line. Later in the quarter, sophomore quarterback Grant Russell (Newark, Ohio) found senior Casey Williams (Nashport, Ohio) for a 13 yard score to cap a 15 play, 83 yard drive that took up 6:10, giving ODU a 10-0 lead with 2:56 left in the first.

Wahle's 52 yarder answered a Walsh field goal early in the second quarter and gave the Panthers a 13-3 lead midway through the period, and that would be the score going into the half.

Walsh tried an onside kick at the start of the third quarter that ODU recovered, leading to Wahle's 20 yard make. The Cavaliers scored a touchdown early in the fourth to draw within 16-10 with 13:36 to play, but a 39 yard pass play from Russell to Williams brought ODU into field goal range again as Wahle sank his fourth kick to extend it to 19-10 with 10:57 left.

Anthony Small and Paul Wesselhoeft stopped Walsh's ensuing drive with a fourth down sack, but the Panthers were forced to punt with 4:42 left to give Walsh one last possession that ended in Tyus' third pick of the season.

Walsh held a 439-326 edge in yards in the game, but the Panthers held the Cavaliers to just one touchdown and one field goal in four red zone trips.

Russell tossed for 233 yards and Williams hauled in six passes for a career-high 111 yards. Senior Dez Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio) caught four passes for 62 yards and sophomore JT McFarland (Zanesville, Ohio) added five grabs for 50 yards.

Ohio Dominican returns to action at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Lake Erie for its homecoming game against Lake Erie.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu