#11 Ferris State Topples #7 Ohio Dominican In Showdown Of Unbeaten GLIAC Leaders

Highlights

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally-ranked Ferris State University football team pulled off one of its biggest wins in many years as FSU recorded an exciting 34-19 road victory over fellow unbeaten and reigning GLIAC Champion Ohio Dominican on Saturday (Oct. 18) in Columbus, Ohio.

The Bulldogs moved to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The showdown pitted a pair of teams ranked among the nation's top 15 in five different polls and the win was FSU's 11th in a row dating back to last year.

With the setback, seventh-ranked Ohio Dominican suffered its first loss of the year in falling to 6-1 overall and in the GLIAC. The loss also snapped ODU's 21-game regular-season winning streak.

The Panthers scored first after picking up a Bulldog fumble on the opening kickoff. However, the FSU defense held ODU to only five yards before Brent Wahle connected on a 37-yard field goal to give host ODU the early lead.

However, the Bulldogs answered right back on their first offensive possession as FSU marched 65 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-3 lead on Jason Vander Laan's 15-yard scoring throw to Shakur Sanders five minutes into the contest.

The Panthers, though, responded by moving 59 yards in 10 plays to grab a 10-7 lead with 6:46 remaining in the opening period. Quarterback Mark Miller found Dez Stewart from 11-yards out on the scoring connection.

FSU surged ahead 14-10 at the end of the first quarter by marching 75 yards in five plays, capped by Jahaan Brown's 13-yard TD run.

Wahle later hit a 31-yard field goal to pull the Panthers within 14-13 with 5:25 left in the second quarter, but Ferris State used a critical late first half touchdown drive to take a 21-13 lead at the break. Vander Laan directed a 70-yard Bulldog drive in the final minute of the half before finding Antonio Agurs from 18-yards away for the score.

In the third quarter, the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 24-13 on Mitch Bredberg's 32-yard field goal after a 50-yard FSU march in eight plays. Ferris State then scored again just over five minutes later following a 51-yard drive, which Vander Laan finished with a one-yard run to make it 31-13 after three periods.

Ferris State added to its total with a 25-yard field goal from Bredberg early in the fourth quarter before ODU scored the final points of the day on a seven-yard TD throw from reserve quarterback Grant Russell to Nick McKnight with only three seconds left to play.

Overall, FSU totaled 459 yards of total offense compared ot 376 for the Panthers. The Bulldogs also forced three turnovers defensively in the victory.

Brown ran for a game-high 124 yards on 13 carries for the Bulldogs with Vander Laan adding 63 yards and a score on 17 attempts. He completed 18-of-26 throws for 207 yards and two scores.

On the outside, Sanders made six grabs for 56 yards in leading the FSU wideouts with Agurs hauling in six catches for 50 yards.

Redshirt freshman safety KC Zenner paced the FSU defense with a game-high 13 tackles and senior James Wimberly added 12 stops for Ferris State.

The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 all-time against the Panthers with the win in the first meeting between the two teams since 2011.

Ferris State will face yet another nationally-ranked and unbeaten opponent in Michigan Tech on the road next Saturday (Oct. 25) in Houghton. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET) at MTU's Sherman Field. The Huskies topped Grand Valley State 35-13 on Saturday to move to 6-0 on the year.

*A complete recap & more is coming soon!