Landmark Ohio Dominican Football Season Comes to Close in Regional Final, 31-28
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio Dominican (11-2) | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Colorado St.-Pueblo (12-1) | 10 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Pueblo, Colo. | DeRose ThunderBowl | #) | |||||
| Ohio Dominican | Colorado St.-Pueblo |
|---|---|
|
Pa:
Mark Miller - 294
Ru: Robert Williams - 29 Rec: JT McFarland - 91 |
Pa:
Chris Bonner - 172
Ru: Cameron McDondle - 103 Rec: Kieren Duncan - 75 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Ohio Dominican | Colorado St.-Pueblo |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 294 | 172 |
| Rushing Yards | 33 | 91 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Time of Poss. | 28:08 | 31:52 |
Courtesy of Scott Miles, Ohio Dominican Sports Information
PUEBLO, Colo. – Ohio Dominican's football team fell behind by 24 points and couldn't complete a fourth quarter comeback, falling 31-28 at No. 8 Colorado State-Pueblo in the NCAA Super Region Four final on Saturday.
The Panthers, ranked No. 9 nationally and No. 5 in the region, see their season end as one of the eight best teams in the nation, concluding the campaign with an 11-2 record. CSUP (12-1), which was the No. 2 seed in the region, advances to the national semifinal against West Georgia next Saturday.
Trailing 31-21 in the fourth quarter after Pueblo returned a punt for a touchdown, senior quarterback Mark Miller(Cincinnati, Ohio) connected with junior Dez Stewart (Cincinnati, Ohio) on pass plays of 35 and 15 yards – the latter for a score – to trim the deficit to 31-28 with 6:54 to play.
The defense forced a three and out, and Stewart returned the ensuing punt to the ODU 43 yard line. But three ODU offensive penalties stymied the drive, forcing the Panthers to punt.
The defense again did its job, but the Panthers had to start their final drive with no timeouts and 1:24 left on their own 20. Miller connected with Stewart to the 36 yard line, but four incompletions ended the game.
ODU outgained CSUP 327-263 as Miller threw for 294 yards, but three turnovers and the punt return for the score proved too much to overcome.
The Thunderwolves had raced to a 24-0 lead in the game's opening 20 minutes, but the Panthers responded before halftime.
Junior Sydney Omameh (Columbus, Ohio) forced a fumble on a sack that junior Di'Andre Harrison (Columbus, Ohio) fell on to get the Panthers going late in the second quarter. Facing fourth and three, Miller found freshman JT McFarland (Zanesville, Ohio) wide open down the far sideline for a 42-yard touchdown pass to cut the score to 24-7 with 4:19 in the quarter.
The defense forced a three and out, and junior Da'Twane Harris (Cleveland, Ohio) came off the edge to block the CSUP punt. Harrison scooped it up at the 16 yard line and won a foot race to the pylon for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 24-14 at the break.
ODU started the second half with the ball and went 75 yards in nine plays to draw within three. Facing a fourth-and-four, Miller lobbed a ball to senior Nick McKnight(Middletown, Ohio) who made an over the shoulder catch for 27 yards to the six.
Two plays later, senior Ronald McCloud (Cleveland, Ohio) took a handoff around the right side and into the end zone to make it 24-21 at the 10:23 mark in the third.
The defense held the ThunderWolves to just 80 yards in the second half, but an 83 yard punt return for a touchdown with 10:52 left in the game served to be the difference.
Junior Austin Osborne (Jackson, Ohio) had a huge game with 13 tackles (4.0 for loss), forcing two fumbles and recovering one. Freshman Cameron Kohl (Hilliard, Ohio) and sophomore Marquise Tyus (Lakewood, Ohio) each had 10 tackles and Harrison had two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
McFarland had a season-high 91 yards and McKnight finished with six grabs for 65 yards. Stewart tallied 81 yards on five receptions.
The Panthers qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year and had won two road games to reach the regional final. The 11 wins represent the most for the team since joining Division II in 2010 and the most by a Panther team since 2007.