CANTON, Ohio – After allowing a touchdown on the first play of the game, Ohio Dominican's football team reeled off 45 consecutive points in registering a 59-21 win over Malone in the season opener Thursday night from Tom Benson Stadium.

ODU (No. 8 AFCA/No. 5 D2Football.com) has now won 25 of its last 26 regular season games and sets up a top-25 showdown next Saturday at Panther Stadium as No. 24 Grand Valley State comes to Columbus for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.

The Panthers turned three first half Malone turnovers into 21 points and also scored on a 71 yard punt return by senior Dez Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio) to grab a 42-7 lead at the break. ODU had just 211 yards of offense in the half, but started five first half drives inside Malone territory as the defense and special teams controlled the opening 30 minutes.

Senior Billy Eakins (Pickerington, Ohio) made the 11th interception of his career to set up ODU's first touchdown, a four yard TD run by senior Brandon Schoen (Lewis Center, Ohio). After a three-and-out, Stewart took the ensuing punt to the house for his first career punt return for a score to give ODU a 14-7 lead six minutes into play.

Another punt led to a 13 yard touchdown run by sophomore Darryl Johnson (Mason, Ohio), who powered through several would-be tacklers at the five and forced his way into the end zone to make it 21-7 at the 5:03 mark.

The Panthers tacked on 21 more points in the second quarter. Eakins recovered a Malone fumble at the Pioneer 28 which led to another score. Later in the quarter, senior Michael Snyder (Clayton, Ohio) pinned Malone inside the 10 yard, and sophomore Nick Isaacs (Cincinnati, Ohio) recovered a fumble at the goal line which led to Johnson's second touchdown run and a 35-7 lead midway through the period.

ODU then embarked on an 11 play, 74 yard scoring drive to close the half, with sophomore quarterback Grant Russell (Newark, Ohio) somersaulting over the goal line for a seven yard TD run with seven ticks left in the half.

Senior kicker Brent Wahle (Pataskala, Ohio) hit from 33 yards out to give ODU a 45-7 edge four minutes into the third quarter.

After a 45 yard run by freshman Esaias Chapman (Waverly Hall, Ga.), Johnson broke free for a 10 yard touchdown run, shaking free from a defender at the goal line for his third score of the night and a 52-21 lead early in the fourth.

ODU capped the scoring with an 18 yard touchdown pass from sophomore Austin Ernst (Cincinnati, Ohio) to freshman Dar Stanford (Zanesville, Ohio) to make it 59-21 with just under three minutes left.

The Panthers outgained Malone 433-298 and ran for 249 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Nine different players had at least one rushing attempt, led by Chapman's 91 yards. Johnson tallied 44 yards as well.

Eleven different receivers caught at least one pass, with Schoen's 37 yards leading the way. Sophomore JT McFarland (Zanesville, Ohio) made a team-best four grabs.

A trio of tacklers made six stops, including senior Brad McCurdy (Columbus, Ohio) and juniors O'Sha Jackson (Warren, Ohio) and Mason Sawicki (Dublin, Ohio). Junior Anthony Small (Cleveland, Ohio) had two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, and senior Sydney Omameh (Columbus, Ohio) and junior DJ Perdue (Indianapolis, Ind.) each had a sack as well.

GVSU opened its season with a 36-28 win over Southwest Baptist on Thursday night. The Panthers have won the last two meetings against Grand Valley.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu