COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a one-week hiatus, the Ohio Dominican football team returns to action against longtime rival Findlay this weekend.

THE BASICS

• Ohio Dominican and Findlay are set for a 6 p.m. kick-off on Saturday, April 10.
• The Panthers' final road game of the spring will take place at JC Donnell Memorial Stadium in Findlay, Ohio.
• ODU and Findlay are two of three unbeaten in the conference, and enter Saturday tied for first place in the G-MAC standings at 3-0.

LAST TIME OUT

• Ohio Dominican held off an upset bid from a game Kentucky Wesleyan squad prior to its bye week, 13-9.
• The Panthers took a double-digit lead into the final quarter but KWC scored a touchdown with eight minutes remaining and had possession in ODU territory in the closing seconds.
• On the final play from scrimmage, junior Ashton Gilkey (Westerville, Ohio) broke up a pass in the end zone to secure the win for ODU.
• Senior Dauson Dales (Defiance, Ohio) led the defense with 16 tackles.
• Classmate Eddie Miller-Garrett (Newark, N.J.) tallied eight stops, including 3.5 for loss en route to being selected G-MAC Defensive Player of the Week.
• Offensively, senior Frederick Pitts V (Huber Heights, Ohio) rushed 21 times for 74 yards.
• Senior David Turner (Fort Wayne, Ind.) caught a team-high nine passes for 58 yards and one touchdown.

G-MAC CONTINUES TO RECOGNIZE PANTHERS

• Miller-Garrett became the fourth Panther player in three weeks of play to earn G-MAC weekly honors.
• The senior defensive lineman drew his first start for the Black & Gold against KWC, registering 8.0 tackles, including 3.5 for loss. He added a pair of pass breakups as well.
• Since joining the G-MAC in 2017, ODU has now won 26 weekly awards.

CHASING HISTORY

• Three offensive players are nearing program milestone marks entering play against Findlay.
• Pitts, getting his first extended look as the featured running back, is 16 yards shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards.
• Pitts is third in the conference this spring with 195 yards and has found the end zone twice. The senior is averaging 65.0 rushing yards per game, while adding six receptions for 38 yards through three games.
• Turner enters the weekend with 219 career receptions, which is four shy of tying Jared Stace's (2004-07) all-time catch record at ODU. The senior holds the school record with 5.9 receptions per game.
• Turner has caught five-plus passes in 14 of his last 16 outings, and leads the G-MAC this spring with 26 catches.
• The senior wide out also recently topped the program's all-time list with 1,755 kick return yards. Turner has a career return average of 24.7 yards and has one of the program's four all-time kick return touchdowns.
• Redshirt junior quarterback Evan Ernst (Mason, Ohio) has his named littered all over the program's top five career lists, including a school record 69.2 completion percentage.
• Ernst, who has completed over 60 percent of his passes in 19-of-23 career appearances, is 65-for-100 this spring for 473 yards and three touchdowns.
• The gunslinger comes into the fourth game of the condensed season just 110 yards shy of joining the 5,000-yard club. Ernst would become the fourth member of the club in program history, and would be the program's third straight starting quarterback to reach the milestone (Mark Miller, 2010-14, and Grant Russell, 2014-17).
• Leading the program's career passing list is current Tiffin University head coach Cris Reisert with 11,241 yards.

DOMINATING DEFENSE

• The ODU defense has allowed only one touchdown this spring, which came in the fourth quarter of the team's most recent outing against KWC.
• The score snapped what was a 12-quarter stretch of the Panthers not allowing an opponent into the end zone.
• Allowing 202.7 yards per game, ODU ranks first in the G-MAC in total defense. The Panthers also pace the conference in rush defense, conceding only 37.3 yards per contest.
• Leading in all three games, ODU's pass defense is still impressive, only allowing 165.3 yards per game.
• The Black & Gold have held all three opponents this spring to single digits, and dating back to the 2019 campaign, have conceded 10 or fewer points in nine of their last 11 games, a stretch that began with a 21-10 win over Findlay.

DAUSON'S CREEK

• Dauson Dales leads the G-MAC's top defensive unit, as the senior linebacker has a conference-best 43 total tackles and 14.3 stops per game.
• Dales opened the season with 4.0 tackles for loss at Lake Erie, and with the effort, has already set a career high with 5.5 tackles for loss this spring. The mark ranks second in the conference.
• The linebacker joins the offensive trio with the opportunity to reach a milestone mark this weekend. Dales has 218 career tackles and is 13 shy of entering the program's all-time top-10 list.
• Dales has reached double-digit tackles in every game this spring, and dating back to the start of the 2019 season, has 10-plus stops in eight of 13 games.

"FRESH" FACES

• A trio of redshirt freshmen have been impressive on defense for the Panthers this season.
• Michael Powers (West Mansfield, Ohio), a West Virginia transfer, is second on the team with 20 tackles this spring, including 2.5 for loss and one sack. Powers, filling in for the program's all-time tackle leader, Camren Moore, has six-plus stops in all three outings and a pass breakup against Lake Erie and KWC.
• Daishaun Hill (Rocky River, Ohio) and Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) have been key in their respective STAR and defensive back positions.
• Daishaun is averaging over six tackles per game, ranking in the top 15 in the conference.
• Jayden is adding 4.3 stops per game and one of five Panther players with five pass breakups through three games.

LIVING ON AN ISLAND

• Gilkey and junior Godwin Joe (Cleveland, Ohio) have been the team's top cornerback tandem since the beginning of the 2019 season.
• The duo has combined for all three of ODU's interceptions this spring, with Gilkey recording two in a 28-3 win at Lake Erie Week One.
• Gilkey now has seven career picks, which is tied for seventh in school history. The two-interception game makes the junior one of just three players in school history with multiple picks in two-plus games.
• Joe is averaging a career-high 4.3 tackles per game this spring and has one interception and three breakups.
• Joe is the active leader for ODU with 12 career pass breakups.

GARNERING ATTENTION

• Junior Jaylin Garner (Shaker Heights, Ohio) moved into the interior defensive line last time out and recorded a season-high five tackles.
• Garner is coming off a 2019 campaign that saw him register 46 tackles and a program single season record 9.0 sacks.
• The junior has yet to record a sack this season but has 12.0 in his career, which sits fifth on the program's all-time list.
• Miller-Garrett, senior Chance Canady (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore Blaine Swartzmiller (Attica, Ohio) have given ODU a formidable front-four, as the unit has combined for 6.0 TFL, six pass breakups and seven quarterback hurries.

STEPPING UP ON OFFENSE

• Freshman Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio) has spelled Pitts V well, giving the Panthers a strong 1-2 combo in the backfield.
• Whittaker has 148 yards on 35 attempts, averaging 4.2 yards per rush. The freshman also has a team-high three rushing scores and has caught three passes for 36 yards.
• Redshirt junior James Morgan (Columbus, Ohio) has been the second option at receiver for Ernst this spring, catching 14 passes for 85 yards.
• Morgan is fourth in the conference in receptions and has five-plus receptions in two games this year.

RIVALRY RENEWED

• SERIES SUPERLATIVES
• Two of Ohio's most successful Division II football programs over the past decade, ODU and Findlay will meet for the ninth time since 2010 on Saturday.
• The Panthers lead the all-time series 7-1, including wins in each of the past six meetings.
• The two sides played for a conference championship in the final week of 2017, with ODU winning the G-MAC crown in its first year after a 49-24 win.
• All seven wins for ODU have been decided by double-digits.
• ODU and Findlay have played three nationally televised games against each other, including 2019, a 21-10 win for the Black & Gold in Columbus. The Panthers have won all three nationally televised games.

UP NEXT

• Ohio Dominican will close out the spring season with two games at Panther Stadium.
• ODU is scheduled to host Tiffin on Saturday, April 17, and Hillsdale on Saturday, April 24.
• Both games are slated for a noon kick-off.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu