COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Behind one of the best defensive scoring days in program history, the Ohio Dominican Panthers football team defeated the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers 49-7 on Saturday (Oct. 22) afternoon at Panther Stadium. 

The Panthers grabbed five turnovers, including four interceptions with three defensive scoring plays, to improve to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Kentucky Wesleyan fell to 2-6 overall (1-4 G-MAC) with their third straight loss. 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• Jake Byrd (Fort Wayne, Indiana) threw for 158 yards in the air with three touchdowns while completing 14-of-24 passes in the game. 
• Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio) rushed for 42 yards in the game as the Panthers tallied 117 rushing yards. 
  • Jordan Pantaleo (Dresden, Ohio) (26 yards), and Leo Nixon (Hilliard, Ohio) (30 yards) added to the rushing attack for the Panthers. 
• Andrew Wolf (Ashland, Ohio) led the Panthers caught four balls for 71 yards, with two touchdowns. 
• Kaiden Koch (Grafton, Ohio) was perfect from the field in kicking as he nailed all seven extra point tries.
• Harris Nichols (Plainfield, Indiana) averaged 44.2 yards per punt with two dropped inside the 20 yard line while booming four touchbacks on kickoff duties. Nichols averaged 62.6 yards on eight attempts.  
• Michael Powers (West Mansfield, Ohio) was the defensive star of the day as he came up with six tackles, a scoop-and-score and a pick six. He also nailed a fake punt attempt as ODU converted on a late fourth down try. 
• Daishaun Hill (Rocky River, Ohio) led the Panthers defense with eight tackles. 
• Darryl Sinclair (Solon, Ohio), Godwin Joe (Cleveland, Ohio), Powers and Dimitri Mitsopoulos (Toledo, Ohio) all made interceptions as ODU took away four passes for the second time this season. 
• The Panthers had nine tackles for loss and three sacks in the contest.  
  • Eddie Miller-Garrett (Newark, NJ) had two tackles for loss and one sack with six tackles and a forced fumble. Qwyn Williams (Gahanna, Ohio) added one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Jaylin Garner (Shaker Heights, Ohio) had another 1.5 tackles for loss, adding to his G-MAC leading total of 11.5 TFL. 
• Jaylin Garner (Shaker Heights, Ohio) and Eddie Miller-Garrett (Newark, NJ) each had 1.5 tackles for loss as Miller-Garrett had 1.5 sacks total. Garner made eight tackles and assisted on half a sack. 
• Blaine Swartzmiller (Attica, Ohio) forced the second fumble on a strip sack. 
• Ohio Dominican trailed in the total offense category, 279-275 as KWC ran 76 plays in the game.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• On the first play from scrimmage, Eddie-Miller Garrett forced a fumble on a sack while Michael Powers scooped and scored from 20 yards out as Ohio Dominican scored six seconds in. 
  • Powers now has the quickest score in program history, topping Evan Ernst and James Morgan (eight seconds in 2021).
• After a couple of empty possessions, Ohio Dominican added a second score in the first quarter. A short KWC punt put ODU in great field position, as Jake Byrd connected with Andrew Wolf for a 17-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown pass with 4:59 left in the first quarter capped an eight play, 45 yards drive, giving ODU a 14-0 lead. 
• An 11-play, 74-yard drive opened the second quarter for the Panthers as Byrd found Jordan Pantaleo for a 19-yard scoring strike - Byrd's second scoring play of the day. With 12:23 left in the first half, Ohio Dominican's lead grew to 21-0. 
• Two possessions later, Darryl Sinclair grabbed his second interception of the season to give the Panthers the ball back.
• On the next play, KWC got their own scoop-and-score from 11 yards away to dig into the lead at 21-7 with 7:36 to go on the clock. 
• Dimitri Mitsopoulos took the next kickoff deep into KWC territory, allowing Byrd to hit Wolf four plays later on a 24-yard touchdown pass for a 28-7 lead. 
• Mitsopoulos struck again with a 48-yard pick six, taking away his third pass this season, leading ODU to a 35-7 halftime lead. 
• The Purple Panthers started the second half with a 18-play, 79-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock, but came up empty on fourth down in the red zone as Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) broke up the pass. 
• Later on the next ODU drive, Michael Powers answered a fourth down call with a 13-yard fake punt near midfield. The drive would not equal points as a later fourth down play was not successful. 
• Godwin Joe picked off the next play from scrimmage as ODU got their fourth takeaway of the contest with the third quarter coming to a close with ODU up 35-7. 
• Two plays into the fourth quarter, Leo Nixon scored on a nine-yard run for a 42-7 advantage. 
• Powers capped his day as he grabbed a deflected pass off Jaylin Garner and went 57 yards to paydirt for his second defensive score of the day and third for the team. 

NOTABLE UPDATES

• ODU has two games in program history with two interception returns for touchdowns (last done October 19, 2019 against Kentucky Wesleyan).
• Powers now has the third longest pick six in program history of 57 yards. 
• This was the first game in ODU history with three defensive scores made. 
• Kelly Cummings (46-21) is now tied for the most wins in program history, tying Bill Conley (46-21). 
• In October, Ohio Dominican has limited teams to 28 points in four games. 
• The 49 points scored was the highest total since October 23rd, 2021 against Walsh. 
• KWC's fumble recovery touchdown was the first fumble recovery for a score allowed since Sept. 1, 2012 against Virginia-Lynchburg.

UP NEXT

• Following the bye week, the Panthers will head to Midland, Michigan to renew the former GLIAC rivalry with the Northwood Timberwolves on Nov. 5. 

Contact: Tyler Stotsky

stotskyt@ohiodominican.edu