COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Dominican football team opened the 2022 season with a 28-14 win over the preseason favorite and defending G-MAC champion Findlay Oilers on Saturday (Sept. 3) afternoon at Panther Stadium. 

In a battle of teams that were receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll, Ohio Dominican defeated the Oilers for the ninth time in 12 tries. 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• ODU won the total offense category with an 428-278 advantage.
• The Panthers rushed the ball for 155 yards on 42 attempts while holding the Oilers to negative yardage (-3 yards) on the ground.
• Jake Byrd (Fort Wayne, Indiana) made his first collegiate start and tallied 273 yards in the air on 27-of-43 passing with one touchdown. 
• W.R. Sanders (Gary, Indiana) led the Panthers rushing attack with 56 yards on the ground. Jordan Pantaleo (Dresden, Ohio) (50 yards), Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio) (42 yards) and Leo Nixon (Hilliard, Ohio) (14 yards) all scored in the game. ODU averaged 3.7 yards per carry. 
• Andrew Wolf (Ashland, Ohio) caught eight passes for 89 yards as the leading target with Austin Davis (Wooster, Ohio) catching five throws for 43 yards. 
• Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) and Daishaun Hill (Rocky River, Ohio) each had eight tackles, while D. Hill forced a fumble and the pair totaled three pass breakups.
• Ohio Dominican totaled five sacks and ten tackles for loss on defense. Jaylin Garner (Shaker Heights, Ohio) sacked the Oilers four times, breaking the ODU single game sack record and tying the conference mark. CeAyre Hall (Cincinnati, Ohio) has one sack with 2.5 tackles for loss. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After both teams came up empty on the opening possessions, Findlay took a 7-0 lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Hunt to Mike Rigerman with 7:14 left in the first quarter. 
• Ohio Dominican finally cracked the scoreboard in the second quarter behind an 19 play, 89 yard drive that ate over eight minutes of clock. Jake Byrd found Andrew Wolf for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:58 to go before halftime. 
• The game was tied 7-7 at the half. 
• On Ohio Dominican's second drive of the second half, Pantaleo broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run, giving the Panthers a lead they would not lose. ODU led 14-7 with 5:28 left in the third period. 
• The Panthers struck again on the first play of the fourth quarter. Nixon rushed for a seven yard score as the lead grew to 20-7 with 14:50 remaining in the game. 
• Findlay scored on the next drive, an eight-yard pass from Hunt to Makya Matthews as the score closed to 20-14 with 9:42 left. 
• Whittaker closed out the game with a one-yard touchdown run with 2:03 left for Ohio Dominican. 
• After getting one sack earlier in the game, Garner sacked Hunt three times on the final drive to clinch the Ohio Dominican single game sack record. 

UP NEXT

• Ohio Dominican heads to Tiffin for a matchup with the Dragons next Saturday (Sept. 10). The Week 2 matchup is set for a 1:00 PM kickoff at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.

Contact: Tyler Stotsky

stotskyt@ohiodominican.edu