It was marked as one of the biggest games in the south division of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the 2014 football season.

While a lot can happen in the course of a season, especially in a competitive conference like the GLIAC, there is a good picture as to which team will be the team to beat.

That team is Ohio Dominican. 

In a battle of the past two conference champions, the nationally ranked Ohio Dominican Panthers beat the Ashland University Eagles 38-20 at Panther Stadium in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, Sept. 20.

Ashland now drops to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while Ohio Dominican remains unbeaten at 3-0 overall and in conference with sole possession of the top spot in the GLIAC South Division. 

The top performer of the game was easily identifiable as Ohio Dominican senior quarterback Mark Miller.

Miller picked AU’s defense apart, completing 27 of 33 passes for 310 yards and five touchdown passes. 

“He just kept throwing it out there, and there would always be someone (who would) run under it,” AU head coach Lee Owens said. “Miller’s a winner.”

Miller’s passing yardage ended up being a larger amount than the total yardage gained by Ashland’s entire offense (303). 

Ohio Dominican outgained Ashland in yardage 450 to 303 overall. 

ODU also won the battle of time of possession 33:34 to 26:26. 

“They just really did a great job keeping our offense on the sidelines,” Owens said. “And we weren’t real sharp on offense. We need to take advantage of the opportunities we have, and we left some points out there.”

The Eagles actually got off to the start they wanted when they marched down the field on the first drive of the game to score the game’s first touchdown. 

The score was a 33-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Travis Tarnowski to senior receiver Eric Thompkins, which put AU up 7-0 early. 

The Panthers right back with 21 unanswered points, starting with their first drive of the game, which concluded on a touchdown pass from Miller to junior receiver Dez Stewart.

In the second quarter, Miller threw two more scores both to junior receiver Ronald McCloud. 

AU would end ODU’s scoring run with a one-yard touchdown run by Anthony Taylor to cute ODU’s lead to 21-14 with 35 seconds remaining in the half. 

The touchdown run for Taylor broke the school record for career rushing touchdowns. 

The senior tailback passed former Eagle running back Don Church’s mark of 35 career rushing scores with his 36th. 

“We’re going to give him the football,” Owens said. “He tied the record last week, and we gave him the football.”

Despite just 35 seconds remaining in the half, Ohio Dominican found a way to put more points up on the board. 

After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Ashland after Taylor’s score, Panthers were able to put together a five-play, 46-yard drive in just 27 seconds to set up a 39-yard field goal by Brent Whale to put ODU up 24-14 at halftime. 

Ashland would put up the only points in the third quarter after a five-yard shovel pass from Tarnowski to Taylor to cap off a 13-play 80 yard drive. 

The extra point attempt by Aiden Simenc was blocked, but Ashland still trailed just 24-20 with about five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

From that point on it would be all Panthers. 

ODU scored 14 unanswered in the fourth quarter thanks to two more touchdown passes by Miller and stingy defense by the Panthers.

Ohio Dominican’s defense didn’t allow the Eagles to maintain a drive of more than five and held the offense to just 27 yards plays in the fourth quarter. 

The victory for Ohio Dominican was its eighteenth straight regular season victory. 

It was also the first time in the five-game matchup history between the two schools that the home team came out on top. 

Taylor finished as the Eagles’ leading rusher with 75 yards on 17 carries.

Fellow running back Vance Settlemire ran for 72 yards on just four carries, including one run of 52 yards. 

Tarnowski completed 13 of 22 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Chris Harvey led AU with 15 total tackles. 

Senior defensive end Chase Hoobler had seven tackles, including two for loss.

While the victory puts Ohio Dominican first in the GLIAC South, Ashland still has a lot to play for this season, especially with another critical road game against an undefeated GLIAC south division opponent in Findlay next week. 

“There’s a lot of football to play yet,” Owens said. “We’re going to have better days, better results.”

Ashland will take on the twenty-fifth ranked Oilers (3-0, 2-1) on Sept. 27 at 3:00.