October 29

Jackets assert themselves with win over Franklin

DEFIANCE, Ohio—The Defiance College Yellow Jackets (5-3, 3-1 HCAC) made a statement in their 38-23 win over Franklin College (3-5, 1-3) on Saturday at Coressel Stadium, proclaiming themselves as a major threat down the stretch in the Heartland Conference.

After losing their first conference game a week ago at HCAC-leading Mount St. Joseph, the Jackets, led by Hans Vetter, Luke Dillon, and Kris Zajac, rebounded with a 29-point second quarter against the Grizzlies and will end the day a half-game behind the Lions, who are 4-1 against conference foes.

DC fell behind early when Franklin’s first drive ended in a Beau Zoeller 25-yard field goal. Defiance struck right back with a 63-yard bomb from Vetter to Dillon on their ensuing possession. Vetter ended the day with 251 yards on 15-of-27 passing with three touchdowns and an interception, while Dillon hauled in seven of those strikes for a career-high 154 yards and the one score.

After allowing a Brian Ney touchdown reception from Ty Fritz with a minute left in the first quarter, the Jacket defense tightened, causing four turnovers and scoring two safeties in final three periods. Kris Zajac spearheaded that attack with a 13-tackle, two-sack performance. The senior also forced a fumble and had two quarterback hurries.

The second quarter began with the Jackets trailing 7-10 and ended with DC up 36-10 after Ricky Calverley’s eight-yard scoring reception from Vetter with 31 second remaining. Vetter took advantage of good field position in the second quarter with Calverley’s first score of the year coming after a safety caused by freshman free safety Keith Snyder’s sack and forced fumble of Fritz in the Grizzlies’ end zone with two minutes left.

Defiance started the quarter with a 43-yard scoring connection from Vetter to Scooter Curtis, while Franklin’s first two drives of the second stanza resulted in fumbles in their own territory. Nic Cass, who ended the game with two tackles, forced a fumble by D.J. Hartsfield that was recovered by Zac Fulmer at the FC 36 to start the chaotic scoring spurt. Defiance ran on all five plays of the drive, ending with a Jake Shank 1-yard strike to make the score 20-10 Defiance with nine minutes remaining in the half.

Zajac hammered Austin Gorrell on Franklin’s next offensive play, causing a fumble that Chris Tietje recovered at the Grizzly 36. The Jackets again stayed on the ground with five runs on six plays, culminating in a five-yard touchdown run by sophomore Phillip Williamson giving DC a 27-10 lead. After a Franklin three-and-out, Defiance again drove to the Franklin door step but a Vetter pass was picked off by Lance Pickrell at the goal line. The ensuing field position resulted in the Snyder safety.

Defiance opened the second half with a punt, while the Grizzlies also stalled on their first second-half possession, turning the ball over on downs. The Jackets moved the ball down to the FC 11, but a Dan Brown field goal was blocked by Lance Drake. Franklin took this momentum and found the end zone on a 13-yard Fritz-to-Danny Sears touchdown pass, ending an impressive 11-play, 82-yard drive and making the count 36-16. A Josh Staggs interception stopped Franklin’s first drive of the fourth quarter.

Things got a little tight when another Fritz-Sears connection, this time from 56-yards out, made the score 36-23 midway through the final period. Defiance, however, stopped the bleeding when Zajac scored the team’s second safety of the afternoon on a sack of Fritz with 3:34 left.

Steven Brancheau was steady at middle linebacker with eight stops and a half-tackle for loss. Tyler Haines had seven tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, while Tietje ended with seven stops, a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception. Snyder registered seven tackles and the sack-forced fumble- safety trifecta. Mike Haydon and Richard Palmer each had a tackle-for-loss with five and three tackles, respectively.

Vetter led Defiance in rushing with 40-yards on 11 carries, while freshman fullback Tom Johns had 30 yards on six attempts. Williamson had 19 yards on 11 carries and his first career touchdown, while Nate Fitton ran a reverse for 11 yards.

Curtis was behind Dillon with 56 yards on three catches and a score, while Rodger Shingledecker had 22 yards on three grabs. Gary Allen had two catches, a rush, three punt returns and three kick returns for a total of 93 yards.

Blake Stambaugh averaged 38.8 yards on six punts with a long of 47 and two kicks inside the 20.

The Jackets will host Manchester College on Senior Day next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Coressel Stadium. The Spartans (1-7, 0-4 HCAC) last played on October 15th, when they fell 24-41 at Franklin.

Mount St. Joseph (7-1, 4-1 HCAC) can wrap-up the conference title with a win at Anderson next Saturday. An AU win would open the door for the Jackets to have a shot at the conference title with a final conference contest at Bluffton in two weeks.