The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis football team lost its last regular season game on the road against Ohio Dominican University on Nov. 12. The Greyhounds committed three turnovers that contributed to the 38-26 loss.

“We didn’t play well enough to win,” said Head Coach Bob Bartolomeo. “We made mistakes that were uncharacteristic of our team.”

The Greyhounds started the game on top with a 6-3 lead. However, the Panthers put 21 consecutive points on the board in the second quarter, making the score 24-6.

“I feel like we were the better team, but they [ODU] did what it took to win,” said senior wide receiver Ryan Forney.

Sophomore quarterback Chris Mills and senior wide receiver Joe Leach shrunk the Panthers’ lead after scoring a touchdown with 39 seconds left in the first half.

At the start of second half, Leach took the opening kickoff 94 yards for the first touchdown of the third quarter.

The score, which put the Greyhounds behind by four, broke the record and marked UIndy’s longest special team kickoff return since 1982.

“I thought our special teams did well,” Bartolomeo said of the Greyhounds’ performance. “We thought we were a better team than them going into it [the game] special team wise.”

The score remained 24-20 for the rest of the third quarter.

The Greyhounds’ offense gained from several plays when Mills found junior wide receiver Mar’Quone Edmonds for three consecutive runs. The plays set UIndy on the Panthers’ 11-yard line, but ODU picked off a pass and ended the drive for the Greyhounds.

“We did an okay job at stopping the run, but we didn’t create any turnovers,” Bartolomeo said. “When you lose the turnover battle three to nothing, then it’s hard to win.”

UIndy did not reach the end zone until its last drive of the game. Leach scored his third touchdown with a 12-yard reception. However, the Greyhounds failed a two-point conversion play.

“We were trying to make plays that weren’t there,” Bartolomeo said. “Instead of just being satisfied with the play itself, we tried to do more within the play and didn’t really need to.”

The Greyhounds recovered the onside kick with less than 34 seconds remaining, but Mills completed just one pass.

UIndy still maintained the league’s top spot in conference turnovers after the last two losses of the season. The Greyhounds set the new record at six turnovers for the entire season.

According to Bartolomeo, the Greyhounds prepared for the game against the Panthers just as they did for previous games.

“We try to treat every week like it’s the most important game of the season,” he said.

With the season behind him, Forney said that some of his highlights came from earlier wins.

“Beating Grand Valley State was exciting,” he said. “For myself, the Northern Michigan game was fun.”

Forney said that it was important to the team to build the foundation for years to come.

“I think the senior class set a foundation of winning and expecting to win. Hopefully, they take it to the next level,” he said.

According to Bartolomeo, he is looking toward next season as the Greyhounds move into a new conference

“We don’t know a lot about the teams we’re going to play,” Bartolomeo said.

Bartolomeo hopes that by the spring, after studying film of each new team, he will have a better understanding of what the Greyhounds have to look forward to in the 2012 season.

Bartolomeo said that he’s met some of the coaches in the GLVC and he gives them credit for the success of their football programs.

“There’s some good football coaches in this league,” he said. “So it [next season] will be interesting.”