COLUMBUS, Ohio - To begin conference play in 2025, the Ohio Dominican Panthers (2-0, 1-0 G-MAC) football team hosted the Tiffin Dragons (2-1, 0-1 G-MAC) at Panther Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 20) afternoon. 

For the first time in the G-MAC era, Ohio Dominican had defeated Tiffin - snapping a seven-game slide with the Dragons. With a 20-14 win over Tiffin, the Panthers had defeated the Dragons for the first time since November 14, 2015. 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• Drew Gallehue finished with a day of 11-of-18 passing, accounting for 191 yards through the air.  
• Markquan Rucker set a career-high with 112 yards rushing on 24 attempts, scoring once. Nathan Webster added one touchdown on the ground with 43 yards rushing on seven carries. 
• Jayden Cornell was the leading target for Gallehue as the fifth year senior caught three passes for 119 yards - including 80 yards compiled after the catch. Joshua Moore made three catches for 26 yards. Conner Campbell totaled 30 yards on a pair of receptions. 
• Mo Conteh led ODU with nine tackles - including seven solo tackles. Gabe Pence and Jace Schaefer had eight and seven stops, respectively. Quentin Wagers added a sack for the second consecutive game. 
• RJ Maddox added to his 2025 interception total with a pair of picks against Tiffin's Alex Johnson.  
• Henry Vakerics made a pair of field goals in the win - from 36 and 22 yards, respectively. 
• Mekhi Kilburn had three kickoff returns for 105 yards after a long return of 39 yards. 
• ODU outgained Tiffin with 322-296 as Tiffin totaled 93 yards on the ground with 203 passing. Ohio Dominican combined 191 passing yards with 131 rushing yards to win the total offense battle.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• ODU's first drive came up empty despite running nine plays on offense. After Tiffin was forced to punt on a three-and-out, the Panthers got in business with points scored. Vakerics capped an 11-play, 43-yard drive that chewed nearly six minutes off the clock with a 36-yard field goal. The Panthers drew first with a 3-0 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter. 
• Tiffin's next drive stalled out on ODU's half of the field as the Panthers came up with their first fourth down stop of the day. On a fourth and seven, ODU got off the field after forcing an incompletion. 
• Gallehue and Cornell connected for a 66-yard pass that put Ohio Dominican in the red zone but the Panthers could not take advantage. Vakerics converted a 22-yard field goal as the lead grew to 6-0 with just over ten minutes left in the first half. 
• In the middle of the second quarter, Tiffin got a turnover on a fumble by the Panthers as the Dragons were around midfield. Four plays later, the Panthers made their second fourth down stop to turn away the Dragons from their first points of the game. Schaefer stopped Ronald Blackman on a fourth and one to give the ball back to the Panthers. 
• The game was 6-0 Ohio Dominican at halftime. 
• Maddox struck with his first pick in the third quarter as he stepped in front of a Johnson pass to get the Panthers the ball. Two plays later, Rucker finished the task with a five-yard touchdown run as the Panthers led 13-0 with over ten minutes left in the third quarter. 
• A third Tiffin turnover on downs - this time on a pass in the end zone halted a 15-play, 67-yard drive and kept the lead at 13 points.
• A 26-yard touchdown pass cut the Panthers lead to 13-7 as the third quarter came to a close. 
• One more big Cornell catch allowed Webster to score from eight yards out, pushing the lead back to 20-7. 
• Tiffin answered the call with a long drive that got them back in the game with 8:47 left. 
• Trailing by six with under two minutes to go, Tiffin had a chance to tie or take the lead. Maddox said not at all as he sealed the win with his second pick of the game and third for the season. 

UP NEXT

• Ohio Dominican goes on the road to Walsh in a battle of undefeated teams on Saturday (Sept. 27) at 4:00 PM.