October 25th, 2025 3:00pm
From Findlay sports information:
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay football team, ranked no. 14 in the country, faced arguably its toughest test since the first week of the season on Saturday, Oct. 25, taking on the Ohio Dominican Panthers in Donnell Stadium. The Oilers faced some adversity early but battled back to earn a 27-20 victory over their long-time rival, improving to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) in the process. With the loss the Panthers fall to 3-4 on the year with a 2-4 mark in the league.
A game that featured two of the top defenses in all of Division II, for Findlay, it was the combination of stout defense and timely offense that proved to be the winning recipe.
The teams traded punts early, as expected with the sixth and eighth ranked defenses, in terms of total yards, in the country.
It was Findlay who struck first when, after converting on three third downs, a nine-play, 76-yard drive was capped with a 28-yard touchdown from junior Chase Harrison to junior Denny Furlong.
In the later parts of the second quarter, a Findlay drive was stalled on a botched handoff that ultimately turned into a touchdown for the Panthers with just over two minutes left in the half.
The first play from scrimmage of the second half was a 41-yard interception for a touchdown by ODU and, after a three-and-out forced by the Panthers defense, another touchdown put the visitors in front 20-7 midway through the third quarter.
Findlay went three-and-out again and momentum seemed to by in favor of ODU. However, everything flipped when senior Christion Stokes punched the ball out after a short completion, a ball that was scooped up by senior Sam Weihrauch giving UF the ball on the Panthers' 30. A few plays later, Harrison found sophomore Aidan Guilbeau for his first career touchdown reception.
On the first play of the fourth quarter senior Johnny Harris, who finished with nine tackles, had a nine-yard tackle-for-loss that essentially ended that possession. Following a punt, the Oilers marched down the field, ultimately scoring on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Harrison to Furlong, putting Findlay in front by one.
The nail in the coffin came after an interception by sophomore Jayon Harvey, who had two picks against the Panthers a year ago. Findlay paid off that turnover with another touchdown to Denny Furlong, his third of the game, from 35 yards out.
Ohio Dominican had one more chance and reached the Findlay 46, but on fourth down, the second-best fourth down defense in the country flexed its muscle, forcing an incompletion to seal the win.
Findlay finished with 380 yards of total offense, the second-most allowed by ODU this season, while holding the Panthers to 290 total yards including just 24 rushing yards.
Harrison finished 18-of-25 for 267 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions. Out of the backfield, senior Jayden Farmer had a big day, toting the rock 25 times for 114 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
Offensively, however, the day belonged to Furlong. For the fourth time in the last five games, Furlong went for more than 100 yards receiving, finishing with 136 on six receptions including three scores. The G-MAC's leader in receiving yards is the first player at UF with at least four 100-yard receiving games since Ruben Flowers in 2019. Guilbeau also had a big game for the Oilers, catching six passes for 50 yards and a score. It was the first multi-reception game of his career.