COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite six scoring drives and a late fourth quarter rally, the Ohio Dominican football team fell short against No. 15/19 Shepherd on Thursday night at Panther Stadium, 35-30.

The Panthers (0-1) and Rams (1-0) combined for 733 yards of total offense and scored 41 of the game's 65 points in the second half. Shepherd took advantage of a 9-for-13 effort on third down to hold a 390-343 edge in total offense.

Evan Ernst (Mason, Ohio) led the offense, completing 29-of-44 passes for 263 yards and two scores. Classmate David Turner (Fort Wayne, Ind.) hauled in double-digit receptions for the seventh time in his collegiate career, registering a team-best 10 catches.

Recording a career-best 105 yards on five catches was James Morgan (Columbus, Ohio). Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio) and Austin Davis (Wooster, Ohio) each posted personal-best reception totals with six and five, respectively. Whittaker also carried the ball a team-high 18 times for 47 yards and one touchdown.

Frederick Pitts V (Huber Heights, Ohio) paced the Panthers on the ground, rushing 10 times for 50 yards. Pitts had the longest rush of the night for ODU as well, 15 yards, just before halftime.

Ohio Dominican and Shepherd traded leads over the first 30 minutes of play, each putting together two scoring drives. An Ernst to Davis four-yard connection in the opening quarter gave ODU an early 7-0 lead. The Panthers added a 36-yard field goal from Jed Quackenbush (Newark, Ohio) in the second quarter and trailed 14-10 at the intermission.

A busy night for Quackenbush saw the senior go a perfect 3-for-3 in field goal attempts and point-after tries, as well log a 58.3 yard average over three punt attempts. Two of Quackenbush's punts were downed inside the Shepherd five-yard line, including a 69-yard try in the fourth quarter.

Whittaker started the second half scoring, capping off ODU's first possession out of the break with a five-yard touchdown. The Panthers scored on their first three second half possessions, including two field goals from Quackenbush to take a 23-21 lead with 12:02 to play.

Ohio Dominican took advantage of Shepherd miscues to capture the fourth quarter lead. The Panthers' third quarter touchdown came after a botched snap on a fumble, while one of the field goal drives came off an interception from Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio).

The Rams responded with consecutive scoring drives, the latter just one rush for 63 yards, to capture a 35-23 advantage with less than five minutes to play.

The Panthers added a late touchdown, as Ernst found Turner in the back of the end zone to close the deficit to 35-30. With just 34 seconds showing on the clock, the Panthers then recovered an onside kick, with Turner pouncing on possession to give ODU one final drive.

Ohio Dominican started with possession near midfield, but an offensive pass interference penalty set the Panthers back in their own territory. ODU's final chance with four seconds remaining was picked off inside the 15-yard line, securing the win for Shepherd.

The Panthers' defensive efforts were led by Dauson Dales (Defiance, Ohio) with 14 tackles. Dales added 1.5 tackles for loss as well.

Six additional defenders for ODU posted four-plus stops, including Hill and Dante Abrams (Maple Heights, Ohio) with five each. Aarin Smoot-Baker (Columbus, Ohio), in his return from injury, led ODU with 2.0 tackles for loss.

Ohio Dominican will look to bounce back when it hosts Virginia State at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu