COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers football team will end their current two-game homestand with a Homecoming contest against the Lake Erie Storm on Saturday (Oct. 7) afternoon at Panther Stadium.
For the second time in the Division II era, the Panthers and the Storm will battle on Homecoming.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
OPENING KICKOFF
- Ohio Dominican lost to Ashland 20-6 last week, falling to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the G-MAC.
- Drew Gallehue (Edon, Ohio) passed for a career-high 211 yards on 24-of-40 passing with one passing touchdown.
- Cobe Marquez (Waverly, Ohio) had a total of six catches on seven targets with 32 yards receiving.
- Ty Wiley (Pickerington, Ohio) was the leading receiver in terms of yards as he caught five passes for 102 yards and one touchdown. He has three 100-yard games in his career.
- Gallehue and Wiley connected on a 47-yard passing touchdown in the 3rd quarter, the third longest touchdown play of the season.
- Brady Blattner (Cumberland, Ohio) led the Panthers with eight tackles on defense.
- Daishaun Hill (Rocky River, Ohio) caught his third interception of the season and third in the last four weeks.
- Hill now has seven career interceptions.
- D. Hill and DeShannon Butler (Columbus, Ohio) both had seven tackles on defense.
- This season is the first time since 2010 (the first season of D2 play) where the Panthers are 1-4 after the first five games.
- This is the sixth time in program history, dating back to the opening with at least three straight losses (first since 2017).
- ODU is 15-4 following a loss under head coach Kelly Cummings.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 7 - ODU has held the Storm to under ten points or fewer in seven straight contests.
- 8 - Ohio Dominican is 8-4 on Homecoming Week games in the D2 era, including winning five straight HC games.
- 12 - Ohio Dominican is 13-1 against the Storm in the series history, including 12 straight wins since 2011.
- 19 - The Panthers are 19th in Division II with total defense (260.2 YPG) and rushing defense (79.4 YPG).
LAKE ERIE AT A GLANCE
- Lake Erie enters play this week with a 1-4 overall record and 0-3 in the Great Midwest. The Storm, after a 1-1 start, sit on a three-game losing streak.
- LEC dropped their season opener 26-10 to Franklin Pierce before grabbing their first win on the road at Northern Michigan 24-21. Since the win at Northern Michigan, the Storm have been weathered by Findlay (45-3), Northwood (68-14) and Walsh (30-16) in the last three weeks.
- Last week against Walsh, Lake Erie allowed two fumble recovery touchdowns in the final minute to seal Walsh's 30-16 win in the Pride and Passion Game.
- The Storm have scored a conference-low 67 points overall and are tied with ODU for lowest scoring offense in conference games (33 points). LEC has allowed 190 points in five games and have surrendered 143 in G-MAC contests. Their point differentials for the season are -110 for conference contests and -123 for the season.
- For the season, Lake Erie averages 13.4 points scored, 114.0 rushing yards, and 185.2 passing yards per game on offense. The Storm are allowing 38.0 points, 203.2 rushing yards and 215.8 passing yards per contest. Overall on offense, the Storm are sixth in passing offense and total offense (299.2 YPG), seventh in rushing offense and tenth in scoring. For the defense, LEC is tied for fifth in passing offense and tenth in scoring, rushing and total defense (419.0 YPG).
- D.J. Boldin is in his second season as head coach, after spending the 2021 season as an offensive assistant and WR coach in Painesville.
- In the 2023 G-MAC Preseason Poll, Lake Erie was selected in eighth place ahead of Walsh and Thomas More, earning 25 votes. The Storm went 3-5 in conference play last season with wins over Kentucky Wesleyan, Walsh and Northwood.
- Xeavier Bullock is the man under center for the Storm and also leads the way on the rushing end as well. Bullock is 71-of-150 passing with 921 yards through the air. He has thrown for three touchdowns while tossing six interceptions. On the ground, he has a team-high 59 carries for 237 yards with two scores.
- Rapheal Jones Jr. and Keed Kpoto both have at least 100 yards rushing with 128 and 119 yards, respectively.
- Corey Polk leads the team with three rushing touchdowns.
- Jovohn Tucker paces the recieving corps with 25 catches for 433 yards and two touchdowns. Tony Edwards has 130 yards in 13 catches while Koraun Perdue has 172 yards on 11 catches with one touchdown.
- Ian Scannell is four-of-five on field goals with a long of 40 and is seven-of-eight for extra points, leading LEC with 19 points.
- Tucker is the dual threat in the return game with 223 yards on 11 kick returns. Jones Jr. has made six returns with 100 yards.
- Jorge Sanchez is the leading tackler with 47 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Ronnell Lackey (31 stops) and Cameren Grodhaus (26 tackles) are behind him. Omari Mitchell has forced two fumbles.
SERIES HISTORY
- This will be the 15th meeting as Ohio Dominican leads the series 13-1, including a perfect 6-0 at Panther Stadium.
- Ohio Dominican led wire-to-wire in a 38-7 win over the Storm in Painesville last season.
- Darryl Sinclair took the opening kickoff to the house for a 99-yard kickoff return, the 2nd longest in program history.
- Travis Whittaker ran for 105 yards on 25 carries with a four-yard touchdown run.
- Jake Byrd threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns, throwing TD's to Austin Davis and Drysten Crallie.
- ODU allowed Lake Erie to have 132 yards passing.
- The Storm had only 33 rushing yards on Saturday, another season low for LEC.
- The Panthers had 21 first downs, converted ten-of-18 third downs and possessed the ball for 36:44 - a season high.
- Lake Erie only managed ten first downs and was one-of-13 on third down.
