Lake Erie College shut down by Ohio Dominican, 38-7
Oct. 8—Lake Erie College football coach D.J. Boldin knew defeating visiting Ohio Dominican on Oct. 8 was going to be enough of a chore in and of itself.
Self-inflicted wounds weren't going to help the Storm's cause.
As it turns out, those self-inflicted played a big role in Lake Erie's 38-7 loss to Ohio Dominican at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium in Painesville.
Ohio Dominican returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and then shut down Lake Erie's offense for most of the game, paving the way for the runaway victory.
PHOTOS: Lake Erie vs. Ohio Dominican football, Oct. 8, 2022
"It's more self-inflicted," Boldin said. "I think it's a common thing around the GMAC that Lake Erie College is better than it has been. But Lake Erie College has to stop beating Lake Erie College. It wasn't really anything they did. We knew everything that was thrown in us. It was just poor execution."
Boldin pointed primarily to his team's offense and special teams. Not only did Ohio Dominican's Darryl Sinclair return the opening kick for a score, but the Panthers defense held Lake Erie to 165 total yards.
Aside from Gerald Gardner's eight-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Brown at the 4:48 mark of the second quarter, which whittled Ohio Dominican's lead to 10-7, offense was hard to come by for the Storm, who punted 10 times and were only 1 of 13 on third-down conversions.
"I thought our defense essentially played well," Boldin said. "Our defense has been a thorn in our flesh, but we performed there today. Offense and special teams... we just have to play a complete game, and that's something we've yet to do.
It could have been a 10-7 game at the half, but Ohio Dominican got a score late in the second when Austin Davis took a pass from Jake Byrd, broke a tackle and took it to the house for a 17-7 lead at the break.
It stayed that way until the fourth quarter. The Storm, in an attempt to get back in the game, failed on a few fourth-down conversions, which gave Dominican a short field to work with. That helped the Panthers to score three times in the fourth, including a one-play drive that came on the heels of a dropped punt by Lake Erie College and a two-play drive that came on the heels of another short-field situation.
"The score is not reflective of how our defense performed," Boldin said. "I thought we played well there. We just didn't compliment them with our offense and special teams."
Gardner completed 17 of 36 passes for 132 yards. Brown (4-39) and Nate Dantley (4-47) led in receiving, while Keed Kpoto carried 11 times for 31 yards to lead the LEC rushing attack.
Lake Erie plays at Walsh on Oct. 15.
"Our offense is one of the top in the country, regardless of this performance today," Boldin said. "Our kids will stay locked in."
