COLUMBUS, Ohio - After playing three of the first four games on the road, the Ohio Dominican Panthers football team is returning home for the final game of September. The Panthers will host the defending G-MAC champion Ashland Eagles at Panther Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 30) afternoon.
The Panthers will play three of the next four weeks at home now.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
OPENING KICKOFF
- Ohio Dominican dropped a close game at Kentucky Wesleyan 13-10 to fall to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the G-MAC last week.
- Drew Gallehue (Edon, Ohio) was 16-of-27 overall with 102 yards in the air.
- ODU rushed for a season-high 146 yards.
- Jonzell Norrils (Toledo, Ohio) added 73 yards rushing on 14 touches with one rushing touchdown from four yards out in the first quarter.
- Travis Whittaker (Gahanna, Ohio) tallied a season-high 74 yards on the ground on nine carries.
- Ty Wiley (Pickerington, Ohio) caught a team-high six catches for 45 yards with two kickoff returns for 41 yards, totaling 86 all-purpose yards.
- He leads the Panthers with 18 catches for 199 yards. Also, Wiley has nine kick returns for 200 yards.
- Wiley has a career 48 catches for 668 yards in 20 career games.
- Ivan Ermlich (Pickerington, Ohio) added an extra point and a 26-yard field goal for four points.
- Eddie Miller-Garrett (Newark, New Jersey) had 2.5 sacks in the game with six tackles.
- He now has 37.5 TFL and 19.5 sacks for his career.
- Miller-Garrett is sitting 2nd all-time for tackles for loss, passing Aarin Smoot-Baker (37.0 TFL). He also passed Omameh and Aarin Smoot-Baker to jump into third all-time for sacks, 1.5 sacks behind DiAndre Harrison (21.0).
- Ohio Dominican is 2nd in the G-MAC with 14 sacks through four games. Averaging 3.5 sacks per game, ODU is tied for 10th in Division II. Eight different players have connected on sacks for the Panthers...
- ODU held the second-best offense in the league to 170 yards of total offense and forced KWC to 45 yards rushing.
- Brady Blattner (Cumberland, Ohio) was tied for the team lead with seven tackles but had two picks as the 16th player with at least two interceptions in a game in program history (last one was Ashton Gilkey - 3/11/21 at Lake Erie).
- Darryl Sinclair (Solon, Ohio), Kalos Farrier (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Michael Powers (West Mansfield, Ohio) combined for 2.5 more sacks as the team totaled five sacks and seven tackles for loss.
- The Panthers tied a program-best with five sacks in the KWC game.
- Daishaun Hill (Rocky River, Ohio) picked off his second pass of the season in the fourth quarter.
- This is the only the third time in the last seven seasons that ODU has had back-to-back losses.
- ODU is 15-3 following a loss under head coach Kelly Cummings.
- Under Kelly Cummings, ODU is 39-5 when holding a lead at halftime. When leading after three quarters, ODU is 47-4 overall.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 6 - ODU has three road losses by a combined six points (23-21 at NDC; 18-17 at TMU; 13-10 at KWC)
- 11 - Ohio Dominican has limited teams to under 100 yards rushing 11 times since the beginning of the 2021 season, including seven games of under 65 yards.
- 18 - The Panthers are ranked 18th in total defense and rushing defense (75.8 yards per game) among 161 D2 teams.
- 28 - When teams are held under 14 points in a game, ODU is 28-2 against them.
ASHLAND AT A GLANCE
- Ashland, the defending Great Midwest champion, enters the Week 5 matchup with a 1-3 overall record and 1-1 in the G-MAC.
- The Eagles have had two ranked matchups in the first four weeks, both defeats. Ashland, ranked as #12 at the time, fell 24-17 to #16 IUP in Week 1. In Week 2, Ashland was #21 while hosting the defending D2 National Champion Ferris State Bulldogs. Ferris State rallied for a 38-28 win over Ashland in the Eagles' home opener.
- For conference play, Ashland defeated Hillsdale 38-14 before dropping a 55-30 slugfest to Tiffin, who was receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll last week. Ashland is one of two teams with a 1-1 record in the conference standings.
- For the season, Ashland averages 28.3 points scored, 101.3 rushing yards, and 196.8 passing yards per game on offense. The Eagles are allowing 32.8 points, 154.5 rushing yards and 231.8 passing yards per contest. Overall on offense, the Eagles are third in scoring, fourth in passing, sixth in total offense (298.0 YPG) and tenth in rushing. For the defense, AU is sixth in passing, seventh in total defense (386.25), and eighth in scoring and rushing defense.
- Ashland leads the conference with 16 sacks this season, just ahead of the Panthers. The Eagles are tied for third most in the D2 landscape.
- All three of the losses for Ashland have come on the road.
- Doug Geiser is in his first season as head coach, after spending the last 19 seasons as an offensive assistant/associate head coach for the Eagles. Geiser replaced Lee Owens, who coached the Eagles for 18 seasons, after he retired following the 2022 season.
- In the 2023 G-MAC Preseason Poll, Ashland was selected for an repeat as G-MAC champion, earning 78 votes and six of the ten first-place votes from the head coaches.
- Junior quarterback Trevor Bycznski has been elevated to QB1 after playing behind Austin Brenner last season. Bycznski hs completed 67 passes of 117 attempts, a 57.3% clip. He has passed for 787 yards with seven passing touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks second in the G-MAC for passing touchdowns and then third in pass completions, passing yards and passing efficiency.
- Senior tailbacks Larry Martin and Gei'vonni Washington have combined for 97 carries and 374 rushing yards, Martin has scored four touchdowns on the ground (tied for 2nd).
- Senior wideout Dezmin Lyburtus has a team-high 23 catches for 312 yards and four touchdowns. He has one rushing touchdown to give him the team lead in scoring with 30 points.
- Jent Joseph has caught 13 passes for 211 yards.
- A.J. Rhodes is three-of-six on field goal tries with a long of 41 yards. He is 14-of-15 on extra point attempts.
- Jackson Myers is the leading tackler with 33 stops, 8.5 tackles for loss and one interception. He is tied for first with TFL and fourth in tackles.
- Chris Julian is the leader in sacks with 4.5 (tied for 2nd in G-MAC) and added 5.0 tackles for loss.
SERIES HISTORY
- This will be the 12th meeting as Ashland leads the series 6-5.
- ODU is 2-3 against the Eagles in Columbus.
- Ohio Dominican battled #6/11 Ashland on the road last October in a defensive struggle. Ashland scored the game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes, winning 14-7.
- Travis Whittaker led the Panthers on the ground, tallying 91 yards and one rushing touchdown. He scored the game's first touchdown with a 35-yard rushing score.
- Eddie Miller-Garrett made a career-high ten tackles, with two tackles for loss and one sack.
- Leo Nixon rushed for a nine-yard touchdown.
- Daishaun Hill came away with his second career interception. AJ Crider had a sack and forced fumble in the game. Blaine Swartzmiller recovered the fumble, forced by Crider.
- Ashland led the total offense battle 416-206 as Ohio Dominican totaled 115 rushing yards and 91 passing yards.
