CHESAPEAKE - Dustin O'Brien set the table and the Chesapeake Panthers ate like kings.

O'Brien returned four punts for 152 yards to set up short touchdown drives as the Panthers belted their arch rival Fairland Dragons 45-12 Friday in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams.

"I was pleased. We played with a lot of intensity the first half," Chesapeake coach Phil Davis said. "Dustin did a nice job on the punt returns. He made things easier for us."

Another key for the Panthers was their pass defense against Fairland quarterback Michael Hill who had already thrown for more than 1,000 yards this season including one game of more than 500 yards.

But Hill was limited to just 14 of 35 passing for 108 yards and an interception.

"We played well.

We were right where we were supposed to be. I can only think of maybe two mistakes we made," Davis said.

Davis offered praise to his defensive line, especially ends Matt Whitmore, Brad Eldred and Derek Leffingwell.

"Our defensive ends did a real nice job containing Hill and putting pressure on him," Davis said. "We rotated the people inside because we knew we'd have to go after Hill. And those guys were going real hard."

Chesapeake wasted little time settling the outcome by scoring 26 points in the first quarter.

O'Brien returned a punt 56 yards to set up a 3-yard scoring run by Keith Marcum to start the scoring at the 10:38 mark.

Marcum set up his own touchdown run on the Panthers next possession. Marcum ran 43 yards to the 7 where he scored on the next play and it was 12-0.

The next touchdown came at the 4:51 mark as Mark Roby bolted 42 yards into the end zone and it was 18-0.

O'Brien got into the scoring act on the next possession as he caught a 56-yard strike from Caleb McComas

and Marcum's conversion run put the lead at 26-0.

A 57-yard punt return by O'Brien to the 13 led to a 1-yard scoring run by Jackson Caynor and it was 32-0. Caynor scored his second touchdown on a 6-yard run with 1:38 left in the half to cap a 51-yard, 7-play drive. Cory Methax kicked the conversion.

Fairland finally got on the scoreboard when Hill passed to Huff for 6 yards and the TD.

Jacob Goodall recovered a fumble at the 24 yards line and three plays later Fairland's Adam Fuller scored on an 8-yard run to make it 39-12.

The Panthers put a cap on the scoring when Mike Stapleton returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown with 4:34 to play in the game.

Marcum finished with 86 yards on nine carries and Roby added 64 on eight tries. McComas was 3 of 8 for 84 yards. The Panthers outgained the Dragons 320 to 126 as they held Fairland to only 18 yards rushing.

Chesapeake is 4-2 overall while Fairland fell to 1-5.

Fairland0660-12

Chesapeake261360-45

First Quarter

Ch - Keith Marcum 3 run (kick failed) 10:38

56 punt return DO

Ch - Keith Marcum 7 run (pass failed) 7:22

2-50 set up by 43-yard run by Marcum

Ch - Mark Roby 42 run (pass failed) 4:51

4-66

Ch - Dustin O'Brien 56 pass from Caleb McComas (Keith Marcum run) 2:17

4-56

Second Quarter

Ch - Jackson Caynor 1 run (run failed) 7:12

4-13 57 punt return DO

Ch - Jackson Caynor 6 run (Cory Methax kick) 1:38

7-51

Fa - Sam Huff 6 pass from Michael Hill (pass failed) :04

Third Quarter

Fa - Adam Fuller 8 run (run failed) 10:59 3-24

Jacob Goodall recover fumble

Ch - Mike Stapleton 35 interception return (kick failed) 4:34

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FaCh

First Downs912

Rushes-yards18-1845-236

Passing yards10884

Total yards126320

Cmp-Att-Int14-35-13-8-0

Fumbles-lost4-12-1

Punts-average10-33.03-36.0

Penalties-yards8-67.517-170

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Fairland: Adam Fuller 7-35, Sam Huff 1-0, Michael Hill 3-minus 12, Cory Walls 4-minus 5; Chesapeake: Keith Marcum 9-86, Mark Roby 8-64, Jackson Caynor 13-37, Cody Methax 4-25, Justin Moore 1-12, John Warner 1-7, Kirsten Harris 2-7, Terry Brown 2-2, Aaron Roth 2-2, Cory Methax 1-minus 6.

PASSING - Fairland: Michael Hill 14-35-1 108; Chesapeake: Caleb McComas 3-8-0

84.

RECEIVING - Fairland: Sam Huff 4-55, Adam Fuller 3-15, Wes Ripley 1-14, Todd Maynard 6-24; Chesapeake: Dustin O'Brien 2-66, Jeff Thornburg 1-18.