Ohio Dominican Snaps St. Francis' (Ind.) 54-game Regular Season Winning Streak

This is the first conference loss for SFU since the 2001 season

Oct. 1, 2007

From ODU Athletics

COLUMBUS , Ohio - No game in the history of the Ohio Dominican football program was as anticipated as much as Saturday's Mid-States Football Association battle against the University of St. Francis (IN). For Panther fans, the game did not disappoint as the NAIA 6^th ranked Panthers knocked off the #2 ranked Cougars, 30-20 in front of a standing room only crowd of over 2,000 people at Panther Field. The ODU win snaps St. Francis' 54-game regular season winning streak and their 32-game road winning streak. This is the first conference game the Cougars have dropped since the 2001 season when Tri-State University, then coached by current ODU head coach Dale Carlson, defeated USF, 27-20, a span of 33 games.   This was also the first USF loss in their last 35 games against an Ohio opponent.

Turnovers seemed to be the story in this game. The tone was set early as Ohio Dominican's Michael Wright ( Rockville , MD ) recovered a fumble by the Cougars' Marcus Rush on USF's opening possession. The Panthers capitalized on the turnover, driving 55 yards in seven plays as Cris Reisert ( Cincinnati , OH ) connected with Josh Smart ( Englewood , OH ) to open the scoring. The Cougars knotted the score at seven on their next possession with an 8-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 2-yard run by Rush. Both teams would trade fumbles as the first quarter ended without further scoring.

The Panthers were driving down the field as the second quarter began. Smart caught his second touchdown pass of the game as Reisert connected with him from 12 yards out at the 13:44 mark of the second stanza for a 14-7 ODU lead. The Panther defense would force the Cougars to go three-and-out on the subsequent possession and the home team took over from their own 12-yard line. Reisert then orchestrated an 11-play, 88-yard drive that ended in his third scoring strike of the game, this one a 26-yard toss to Justin Sayre ( Newark , OH ). The extra point attempt failed and the Panthers jumped out to a 20-7 lead. ODU added a field goal at the 3:46 mark as senior Andy Wernicke ( Wheaton , IL ) connected from 31 yards out to give the Panthers their largest lead of the afternoon, 23-7. The Cougars added a touchdown just before halftime as Daniel Carter scored from seven yards out to cut the deficit to 23-13 heading into the recess.

Neither team could generate much offense in the second half as the turnover bug bit both teams. The Cougars' Sam Miles picked off a pass in ODU's second possession of the half and the visitors took advantage. St. Francis took over at the ODU 28-yard line and needed just five plays to cash in on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Wedding to Bo Thompson to cut the Panther lead to three, 23-20.

But St. Francis would come no closer. After the Panther defense forced USF to punt on each of their next two possessions, the Cougars began their comeback attempt on their own 10-yard line with 6:28 left in the game. Seven plays and 17 yards into the drive, the Panthers' Joe Slabaugh ( Akron , OH ) picked off a Wedding pass at the 50-yard line and returned it to the USF 26. From there, the Panthers would seal the game with a 1-yard touchdown run from Nathan Clark ( Newark , OH ) to cap the scoring. St. Francis gave ODU fans a slight scare as Wedding connected with Zach Rainey for a 54-yard completion to the ODU 11-yard line with just over two minutes remaining, but the Panther defense would hold and force the Cougars to turn the ball over on downs and the Dominican celebration was on.

Cris Reisert turned in another efficient performance for Ohio Dominican, going 34-of-46 for 310 yards and three touchdowns. Reisert has thrown for at least 300 yards in each of his team's five games this season. Josh Smart hauled in 10 passes from Reisert for a team-high 103 yards and two scores, while Jared Stace (Whitehall, OH) also caught 10 passes for 71 yards. Nathan Clark led the ground attack with 28 carries for 94 yards and the fourth quarter score.

Joe Slabaugh led the defense for the second consecutive week, collecting a total of 11 tackles, forcing a fumble, and intercepting his second pass in as many games. Linebacker Justin Fraley ( Belleville , OH ) also made 11 stops on the game. Michael Wright forced two fumbles and recovered one of those, while David Jenkins ( Akron , OH ) recovered a fumble and picked off a pass. Senior defensive lineman Chad Sweigert ( Hilliard , OH ) contributed two sacks to the Panther effort, including a sack of Wedding that snuffed out the Cougars' last drive of the game and sealed the win for the Panthers.

"Our defense had a tremendous game for our team today. The stops they made, especially in the second half really forced St. Francis to work for everything they got," said Panther head coach Dale Carlson. "Keeping a team like St. Francis out of the end zone is a testament to the hard work our defense displayed on the field today."

The Panthers improve to 5-0 on the season and 1-0 in the MSFA-Mideast League. Meanwhile, St. Francis drops to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the MSFA. This is the first conference opener the Cougars have lost since their inaugural season in 1998.

Ohio Dominican has no time to rest as they prepare to travel to NAIA #3 ranked St. Xavier (IL) University for an MSFA game on Saturday, October 6^th. Kick-off with the Cougars is schedule for 2 p.m.