|
Otterbein at Defiance Box Score
DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College football season opener came to a disappointing end on Saturday afternoon inside Coressel Stadium. The Yellow Jackets gained more yards and won the battle of the clock by over eight minutes, but Otterbein took advantage of five DC turnovers and pulled away in the final quarter for a 25-13 victory.
The Jackets got on the board first as Hans Vetter capped a seven-play drive by completing a six-yard pass to Gary Allen in the back of the end zone with 1:46 left in the opening quarter.
After a failed point-after-attempt for DC, Otterbein answered with a pair of touchdown passes from Paul Stelzer. The first strike gave the Cardinals a 7-6 lead with 13:41 remaining in the first half.
Stelzer then got the scoring started in the second half by connecting with Kyle Wolfe for a 24-yard strike to give OC the 13-6 advantage with 8:39 to play in the third.
The score stayed at 13-6 until DC’s special teams came through. With Otterbein backed up on its own six-yard line and facing a fourth and 10, Nic Cass broke through to block B.J. Wanninger’s punt on the goal line.
Colton Coy temporarily prevented a Yellow Jacket score by falling on the ball at the one, but Jason Gendron bowled his way into the end zone two plays later to knot the score at 13-13 with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
The Cardinals took control from that point, capitalizing on costly DC miscues and valuable field position. Otterbein regained the 19-13 lead with a 40-second, 25-yard drive. Dan Gendron then put the game out of reach with an 18-yard touchdown run for a 25-13 lead with 5:58 to play.
For the game, Defiance posted 269 yards of total offense to Otterbein’s 248 and also out rushed the Cardinals by a 117 to 97 margin.
Scooter Curtis led the spread out ground attack for DC with 40 yards on just 10 touches, while Gendron and Vetter rushed for 38 and 34 yards respectively.
Vetter completed 14-of-31 pass attempts for 152 yards and a touchdown but was also picked off a total of five times.
Jason Bushong led the defensive attack for Defiance with 6.5 tackles, one pick and a pass breakup. Cass added to his blocked punt with a pair of tackles for a loss and Steven Brancheau added a four-yard sack.
Defiance (0-1) will take to the road next Saturday for a 7:30 pm kick-off at Adrian College.
|
