COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers football team is set to travel to the outskirts of Hall of Fame City for a Great Midwest contest on Saturday (Oct. 14) afternoon. The Panthers will resume their rivalry with the Walsh Cavaliers at Larry Staudt Field. Kickoff is set for 12:00 noon on what looks like to be a rainy and sloppy Saturday afternoon.
This will be the 18th matchup between the Cavaliers and the Panthers as they have met every season since 2004, except the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
OPENING KICKOFF
- ODU scored 34 unanswered points in the second half after trailing 17-7, defeating Lake Erie 41-17 for Homecoming. The Panthers are now 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the G-MAC.
- Jake Byrd (Fort Wayne, Indiana) returned from injury in the first quarter and completed 12 passes of 17 attempts with 221 yards and two touchdowns. Byrd added 44 yards on the ground on four carries and a rushing touchdown.
- Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio) set a career-high with 144 rushing yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns.
- Ty Wiley (Pickerington, Ohio) caught four passes for 101 yards, his second straight 100-yard game and fourth of his career. He had catches of 45 and 47 yards.
- Drysten Crallie (Columbus, Ohio) went for three catches and 40 yards and a touchdown.
- Eric Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored his first career touchdown after he rushed for 43 yards with five carries. He also had a 23-yard kickoff return.
- Zach Bartrum (Meigs County, Ohio) added a touchdown as well on his one catch.
- Jayden Hill (Gahanna, Ohio) led the Panthers with eight tackles (six solo tackles).
- Eddie Miller-Garrett (Newark, New Jersey) added seven tackles, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and two QB hurries.
- The Storm had 18 yards rushing, the 7th lowest output against a Panther defense.
- ODU has held teams under 100 yards rushing 13 times since the end of 2021 and teams under 50 yards three times this season.
- ODU finished with 481 yards of total offense, most since Sept. 24, 2022 against UIndy. The Panthers had 252 yards rushing, highest amount since October 23, 2021 vs. Walsh.
- ODU is 16-4 following a loss under head coach Kelly Cummings.
- On the road against the Cavs, ODU is 7-3 with six straight wins in Stark County. Counting Malone road games, ODU is 12-3 within Stark County.
- Logan Ortt (New Philadelphia, Ohio) was named the Great Midwest Special Teams Athlete of the Week on Monday (Oct. 9) afternoon.
- Ortt helped the Panthers in their 41-17 win over Lake Erie on Saturday afternoon on the punting front. Ortt totaled four punts for a total of 166 yards, averaging 41.5 yards per punt. His longest punt of the day was 56 yards and three of his punts were located inside the 20-yard line and more specifically, inside the 10-yard line.
- ODU is in the top three of the G-MAC in five of six defensive categories this season. They also rank in the top 20 nationally in three different categories.
- Total Defense: 258.7 YPG - 1st (13th in D2)
- Scoring: 17.5 PPG - 1st (27th in D2)
- Rushing: 69.2 YPG - 1st (10th in D2)
- Sacks: 18 - 2nd (16th in D2)
- First Down Defense: 89 - 1st (26th in D2)
- Passing: 189.5 YPG - T-2nd
- Red Zone Defense: 70.6% - 3rd
- Interceptions: 5 - T-5th
- ODU has outscored Walsh 101-17 over the past four meetings with three shutouts.
- On the current 11-game win streak vs. Walsh, ODU is averaging 27.6 points per game while allowing 10.2 PPG.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 8 - ODU has held the Cavaliers to under 14 points or fewer in eight of the last 11 contests.
- 11 - Ohio Dominican is 13-4 against the Cavaliers in the series history, including 11 straight wins since 2009.
- 19 - ODU is 19-0 when the Panthers score at least 40 or more points.
- 20 - Ohio Dominican holds a 20-5 record in the month of October under HC Kelly Cummings.
WALSH AT A GLANCE
- Walsh is 3-3 overall this season but holds a 1-3 G-MAC record. The Cavaliers opened the season 2-0 for the first time since 2010 but have dropped three of the last four games - all in conference play.
- The Cavaliers and the Panthers have played the same conference slate so far with an identical 1-3 conference record. Walsh was on the losing end of contests with Kentucky Wesleyan, Thomas More and Ashland. Both teams have a win over Lake Erie.
- The Cavaliers got two scoop and scores in the final minute to seal Walsh's 30-16 win in the Pride and Passion Game over Lake Erie two weeks ago.
- For the season, Walsh averages 18.8 points scored, 133.0 rushing yards, and 109.3 passing yards per game on offense. The Cavaliers are allowing 20.7 points, 125.7 rushing yards and 249.7 passing yards per contest. Overall on offense, the Cavs are fifth in rushing offense, ninth in scoring and tenth for total offense (242.3 YPG) and passing. For the defense, WU is fourth in scoring, fifth in rushing, sixth in total defense (375.3 YPG) and ninth in passing defense.
- John Fankhauser is in his sixth season at Walsh as head coach. He was an assistant coach for 19 years prior to becoming the head coach. In six seasons, Walsh has not surpassed four wins in a season and has tied the win total for the previous two seasons combined.
- In the 2023 G-MAC Preseason Poll, Walsh was selected in ninth place ahead of Thomas More and behind Lake Erie, earning 22 votes. Walsh was 1-7 last season in conference play with the only conference win coming at the hands of Kentucky Wesleyan.
- Since moving home games to Larry Staudt Field on campus in 2022, Walsh is 2-5 at home.
In the G-MAC era (2017-present), Walsh is 5-25 in their various homes in Stark County (Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton GlenOak High School and Larry Staudt Field).
- Dalys Jett has appeared in four games while leading the Cavaliers with a stat line of 31 completions of 72 attempts, 325 passing yards and one interception.
- Hayden Wickard had three passing touchdowns with 16 completions and 225 yards.
- Dom Jennings has a team-high 331 rushing yards on 71 carries with three touchdowns.
- Cameron Macon rushed for 250 yards on 68 attempts with a touchdown on the ground.
- Anthony Harris paces the receivers with 15 catches for 270 yards while Garrett Waite has 12 catches for 103 yards. Tavion Jackson had two touchdowns of his 11 catches.
- Robbie Page has three interceptions with Cam Hollobaugh adding two.
- Trent Doerfler is 14-of-14 in extra point attempts with a five-of-seven field goal clip.
- Hollobaugh has a team-high 55 tackles with 7.5 TFL and two sacks.
- Nate Watkins has 10.5 tackles for loss.
