HILLSDALE, Mich. -- The Ohio Dominican football team concluded its 2021 fall season Saturday afternoon with a 21-17 loss at Hillsdale. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Panthers raced out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter of play. 

• ODU gained 136 yards on its first two offensive possessions, leading to both scoring drives. 

• Evan Ernst (Mason, Ohio) capped an 11-play drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ty Wiley (Pickerington, Ohio). 

• Jed Quackenbush (Newark, Ohio) put the Panthers in front by two scores with a 35-yard field goal. 

• Still leading by 10 points, Ernst was picked off near the end of the first half, and four plays later, Hillsdale (6-5, 5-2 G-MAC) scored for the first time, closing its deficit to 10-7 at the intermission. 

• ODU scored the only points of the third quarter. After Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) broke up a pass on fourth down and two, Ernst connected with James Morgan (Columbus, Ohio) for a 70-yard touchdown. The Panthers led 17-7 heading into the final period. 

• Hillsdale scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including the final tally with 43 seconds remaining to take a 21-17 advantage, its first lead of the game.  

• ODU was able to drive from its own 11-yard line to midfield in the closing seconds, but the hail mary attempt as time expired fell to the ground.  

BOX SCORE NOTES 

• The Panthers outgained the Chargers, 435-237.  

• ODU rushed for 160 yards in the contest, an attack led by Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio), who ran 12 times for 71 yards.  

• Frederick Pitts V (Huber Heights, Ohio) carried the ball 15 times for 52 yards.  

• Ernst completed 26-of-36 passes for 275 yards and the two scores. He became just the third player in program history to record 20-plus passing touchdowns in three different seasons for ODU.  

• Morgan led the receiving group with three receptions for 93 yards. 

• Defensively, Dauson Dales (Defiance, Ohio) led ODU with 14 tackles. As a result, Dales broke the single season tackle record, previously held by Austin Osborne (116), finishing 2021 with 122 stops. 

• Dales had already secured both the school and conference career records entering play on Saturday but finishes his time with the Black & Gold with 376 career tackles. 

• Hill and Kylen McGill (Middletown, Ohio) each posted nine stops, with both also recording a pass breakup in coverage.  

• Eddie Miller-Garrett (Newark, NJ) registered one sack and two tackles for loss, giving him totals of 8.5 and 15.0, respectively this fall. Both marks rank inside the top four all-time for a single season at ODU.  

• Aarin Smoot-Baker (Columbus, Ohio) added a tackle for loss as well, giving him 37.0 for his career, one shy of tying the ODU career record of 38.0 set by Sydney Omameh.  

SEASON WRAP-UP 

• The Panthers conclude the 2021 campaign 7-4 overall. 

• ODU completed conference play 4-3. 

• The Black & Gold played six one-score games this fall. 

• With its final record, ODU secured its 11th consecutive winning season. 

• The Panthers also won seven or more games for the eighth straight fall season. 

Contact: Tyler Jester 

jestert@ohiodominican.edu