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Defiance at Manchester Box Score
N. MANCHESTER, Ind. - Defiance held Manchester to just 146 yards of total offense and kept the Spartans off the scoreboard until their final drive of the game en route to posting an impressive 19-7 road victory on Saturday afternoon in the HCAC opener for both teams.
The Jackets led throughout the afternoon, steadily building a 19-0 lead with a score in each quarter before the Spartans finally broke through with a late touchdown. DC led 9-0 at the half before pushing the spread to 12 points on a field goal in the third. A fourth quarter touchdown made it a 19-point cushion.
Defiance used the lead in its favor, battering the Spartan defense for 206 rushing yards on 47 carries. The Jackets also turned the clock against Manchester by possessing the ball for over 34 minutes of playing time.
For the game, DC racked up 22 first downs and 305 total yards of offense while converting eight-of-14 third down attempts. Manchester managed just nine first downs and 146 total yards of offense and was forced to punt the ball eight times.
Jason Gendron led all rushers with a game-high 95 yards on 14 carries while Scooter Curtis and Hans Vetter combined to go for 109 yards. Vetter added 99 more yards through the air on nine-of-20 passing and added one touchdown pass. Seven of those nine completions found the hands of Gary Allen and Ricky Calverley, while Luke Dillon's one reception was a 14-yard touchdown.
Tyler Haines led the charge in yet another all-around performance for the Purple and Gold defense with six tackles, one interception and a sack. Mike Haydon had three sacks and four total hits and Ray Martinez registered six solo tackles. Chris Tietje also recorded a sack and Nic Cass added an interception.
DC's first score was set up by a 65-yard punt off the foot of Vetter, which was downed by the Jackets at Manchester's own five-yard line. Defiance held strong and regained possession after three MC plays and a short 22-yard punt.
The Jackets promptly marched towards the end zone with a nine-play, 23-yard scoring drive which was capped by a one-yard run by Tom Johns.
Two more plays by the special teams pushed the lead to 9-0 in the second quarter as Vetter booted a 33-yard punt out of bounds at the MC three-yard line. After another defensive stand, the Jackets blocked the Manchester punt into the end zone for a safety.
It remained 9-0 throughout the third quarter until a 23-yard field goal from Dan Brown made it a 12-0 game in favor of DC with 3:43 to play in the third.
DC then put the game away, following up a Cass interception with its final score of the game. Vetter found Dillon for a quick-strike, 14-yard touchdown pass to finish a three-play drive and give the Jackets a 19-0 lead with exactly five minutes to play.
The Spartans added a late touchdown with under a minute on the clock to spoil DC's bid at its second shutout performance in its last three games.
The win pushes Defiance to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the HCAC. The Jackets will play at Rose-Hulman next Saturday in a 2 pm start before hosting Anderson on Oct. 14.
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