COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the annual Homecoming matchup, the Ohio Dominican Panthers football team used a tale of two halves against the Lake Erie Storm. 

After trailing 17-7 at halftime, Ohio Dominican snapped a three-game slide with 34 second half points to win the game 41-17. 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• 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. 
  • Whittaker now is fifth in rushing attempts (403), sixth all-time in rushing yards (1,710) and tied for sixth in rushing touchdowns (17). 
  • In addition of his rushing attack, he grabbed three passes for 33 yards with 35 yards after catch. 
• Ty Wiley (Pickerington, Ohio) caught four passes for 101 yards, his second straight 100-yard game and fourth of his career.
• 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. 
  • He is tied for second all-time now for sacks with 21.0.
• Dylan Fisher (Toledo, Ohio) made one sack while Brady Blattner (Cumberland, Ohio), Kalos Farrier (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Caleb Diersing (Cincinnati, Ohio) had half of a sack. 
• 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.
• Lake Erie totaled 251 yards overall with 233 yards passing. 
  • 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. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A long strike for the Storm opened the scoring in the opening minute. Lake Erie added a second touchdown in the first quarter and led 14-0 after the first frame. 
• Ohio Dominican's second drive of the second quarter proved to be a scoring drive. With a short field, ODU went 47 yards on five yards after Byrd hit Crallie on a 25-yard touchdown pass. The Panthers trailed 14-7 with 8:34 left before the break. 
• Lake Erie answered with a field goal and took a 17-7 lead to the intermission. 
• Three plays into the half, the Panthers scored on a four-yard TD run by Whittaker after Byrd and Wiley connected for a 45-yard pass. Less than two minutes into halftime, the Storm's lead was down to three.
• Another Byrd-Wiley long pass developed another ODU scoring drive after a Storm punt. Byrd scampered ten yards on the ground as the Panthers led 21-17 with 6:59 left in the third quarter. 
• A red-zone stop of fourth down by the Panthers defense kept the Panthers ahead as the score remained 21-17 after three quarters. 
• Rinse and repeat for the fourth quarter - a quick strike happened again for the Panthers. Byrd and Bartrum started the final period with a 23-yard touchdown in the air. 
• Two more rushing scores for the Panthers closed the scoring. Whittaker had a four-yard score on the ground and Davis scored from one-yard out. 

UP NEXT

• The Panthers will travel to North Canton, Ohio next Saturday (Oct. 14) for a matchup with the Cavaliers of Walsh University. Kickoff from Larry Staudt Field is scheduled for 12:00 PM.