BUCKHANNON, West Va. - After a longer wait, the Ohio Dominican Panthers (1-0) football team kicked off the 2025 season with a 31-0 win over the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (0-3) on Thursday (Sept. 11) evening. 

Ohio Dominican claimed their 13th shutout in program history and improved to 15-7 in season openers in the program's history. 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• Drew Gallehue was an efficient 14-of-17 passing with 202 yards and one touchdown. Carson Parker and Cole Burton combined to go three-of-five passing in the second half with 21 yards. 
• ODU had 203 yards of rushing in the game with nine different players carrying the ball. Markquan Rucker totaled 14 carries for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Isaiah Schmidtke had a career-high 13 carries and 67 yards. Nathan Webster scored once with a 60-yard day in his 12 attempts. 
• Joshua Moore made a team-high six catches of eight targets for 68 yards. Conner Campbell had 94 yards (88 yards after catch) on three catches - including a long 72-yard pass. 
• Harlee Hanna, Gabe Pence and Jace Schaefer all led with four tackles each. Quentin Wagers had two sacks on defense tonight. 
• With three takeaways, RJ Maddox and Kaden Holmes each came away with a pick while Demar Parker recovered a fumble on a muffed punt. 
• Henry Vakerics converted all four extra point tries and made a 40-yard field goal. 
• ODU won the total offense category with 426 yards to Wesleyan's 105. The Panthers had wins in the rushing battle, 203-73 and passing, 223-32. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a turnover on downs for West Virginia Wesleyan's first drive, Ohio Dominican drew first with a four-yard rushing touchdown from Webster on a short field. The lead was 7-0 six minutes into the game.  
• Two and a half minutes later, a quick three play, 63 yard drive pushed the ODU lead to 14-0. Gallehue found Campbell down the sideline for 72-yards and then Rucker ended it on a three-yard touchdown. 
• Holmes had a first quarter pick off Logan Landers but the Panthers led 14-0 after one quarter in West Virginia. 
• The Panthers got the ball back in the second quarter on a muffed punt catch but that drive ended in the red zone on a fumble by the Panthers. 
• Later in the second quarter, the Panthers put ten points on the board with a 40-yard field goal by Vakerics and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Gallehue to Campbell. The lead was 24-0 at the half. 
• Rucker capped a six minute drive to open the second half with his second touchdown of the day. A three-yard run completed the scoring at 31-0. 
• The Bobcats threatened to break up the shutout in the fourth quarter, getting into the red zone with a minute remaining. Maddox picked off the Bobcats QB for a shutout-saving pick and allowed the Panthers to run out the clock. 

UP NEXT

• Ohio Dominican will host Tiffin for the 2025 home opener at 12:00 PM next Saturday (Sept. 20).