(CRESTVIEW HILLS, KY) – The Thomas More University football team won a thrilling, come-from-behind, 18-17 game against the visiting Ohio Dominican University Panthers Saturday night in front of a large crowd in their first-ever Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) game.
- After a three-and-out by the Saints on their first drive, the Panthers got rolling early with a 52-yard touchdown pass to go ahead 7-0.
- A muffed punt attempt on the Saints following drive set the Panthers up at the Thomas More 18-yard line, where they would score on a 14-yard touchdown pass to go ahead 14-0 with 7:52 remaining in the first quarter.
- Redshirt Junior Tanner Lawrence (Melbourne, KY / Campbell County) intercepted a pass early in the second quarter to give the Saints their best chance to score all night. A sack would tank the drive and Thomas More would punt.
- The following Panthers drive would provide points for the Saints however as junior Christian Rice (Louisville, KY / Eastern) had a 19-yard pick-six to put the Saints on the board and make the score 14-6 midway through the second quarter.
- Late in the second, the Saints had a chance to score but a fumble gave the ball back to Ohio Dominican with 37 seconds remaining in the half where they would kneel it to go into the break up 14-6.
- The Panthers had a shot to score early in the second half after a muffed punt gave them the ball at the Saints 18-yard line, but a pick from Colton Sandhas (Cincinnati, OH / Elder) gave Thomas More the ball back.
- Early in the fourth quarter, Ohio Dominican went up 17-6 after a 42-yard field goal.
- The Saints would then grind out a 17-play drive that began at their own 24-yard line that would eventually turn into a three-yard run by Jaden Hall (Springfield, OH / Shawnee / Tiffin University) for the Saints touchdown, and a failed two-point conversion kept the score at 17-12.
- After a three and out by the Panthers, Thomas More got the ball back with 6:38 remaining at their own 37-yard line.
- Another long drive ensued that included two key long third-down conversions capped off by a Rae'Von Vaden (Louisville, KY / Marion C. Moore) five-yard pass to Mike Kirch (Cincinnati, OH / Elder) for the lead. The two-point conversion failed, and the game stayed at 18-17.
- Sandhas picked off the Panthers once again before the Saints failed to get the first down on their ensuing drive to give Ohio Dominican one more drive with a minute remaining.
- On fourth and 18, the miracle didn't occur for the Panthers as Ross Halverstadt (Covington, KY / Covington Catholic) and Tanner Lawrence sacked their way into the history books.
- As mentioned, this was Thomas More's first G-MAC victory.
- This was only the second time the Saints have scored 18 points in a game in program history and the first time that resulted in a victory. The other game was a 30-18 loss to Howard Payne University on September 7, 1996.
- This was Thomas More's first-ever game against Ohio Dominican University.
- Rae'Von Vaden threw for 80 yards through the air and ran for another 78 on the ground.
- Jaden Hall matched Vaden with 78 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
- Freddie Johnson (Cincinnati, OH / Colerain) led the Saints with four catches for 31 yards.
- This is the second game for Colton Sandhas in his career where he had multiple interceptions, with his other coming in the Saints season opener on August 27, 2022, against Bluefield University.
- Junior Isaac Abdon (Erlanger, KY / Lloyd Memorial) led the Saints with seven tackles and had a tackle for loss.
- Ross Halverstadt and Tanner Lawrence each had 1.5 sacks while Vuk Sajlovic (Independence, KY / Simon Kenton) had a sack for the second straight week.
Thomas More returns to the road next weekend for a 12:00 p.m. matchup with the Walsh University Cavaliers in North Canton, Ohio on Saturday, September 23.
