DC Blasts Ravens on Homecoming for Sheehan's First Win

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College stormed out of the gates on Saturday at Coressel Stadium, bolting to a 10-0 lead against Anderson before waiting out an 85-minute delay and finishing off a 30-7 Homecoming victory against the Ravens. [Highlights]

The continued dominance by DC over Anderson on the gridiron marked the first victory for head coach Brian Sheehan at the helm of the Defiance College football program and extended the Jackets' current win streak against the Ravens to eight-straight victories.

Defiance came out clicking on all cylinders, forcing a fast three-and-out by AU and finding the end zone seven plays later for an early 7-0 lead. Garrett Teague capped the 83-yard drive by finding Sam Mason for his first collegiate reception and a 26-yard touchdown.

The Yellow Jacket defense then pushed Anderson back 13 yards on its next possession and extended the gap to 10-0 on a career-high, 33-yard field goal off the foot of Spencer Saunders.

Weather then halted the onslaught, as lightning forced the game to stop at the 6:32 mark of the first quarter. The delay stalled a dominant showing on both sides of the ball by the Purple and Gold, as DC had held Anderson to minus-10 yards on eight offensive plays, while racking up 10 points and 87 total yards on 10 offensive snaps.

The Ravens finally broke through after play resumed, as a fumbled snap by DC was scooped up by Jeremy Martin and returned 23 yards for a touchdown to trim the Defiance lead to 10-7 with 1:50 left in the opening quarter.

The Yellow Jackets would reclaim control with a pair of quick scores to open the second quarter. The first strike came on a 30-yard touchdown completion from Teague to Jon Carrabino that pushed the spread back to 10 points. Matt Forry then dove on a loose ball two plays later to give DC possession on the AU 27-yard marker and Saunders capitalized by splitting the uprights from 28 yards out to make it a 20-7 cushion with 7:27 to play in the half.

Saunders would then connect from 22 yards out to cap Defiance's first touch of the second half and push the margin to 23-7, before Trevon Burrell broke loose down the Anderson sideline for a 33-yard touchdown run. The score came nine seconds into the fourth quarter and capped a string of 20-unanswered points by the Purple and Gold over the final 46:05 of action.

The DC defense was the story, as the Jackets held Anderson without an offensive touchdown on the afternoon and limited the Ravens to 139 total yards of offense and only 19 yards rushing.

D.J. Brigham led the dominant showing, notching seven of his nine tackles via the solo variety and racking up a pair of sacks and 3.5 tackles for negative yardage. Gregg Pickett also played well in the trenches with a team-leading 10 tackles, one sack, two hits for lost yardage and a trio of quarterback hurries. Andrew Leverenz ended with seven stops, one sack and four hurries, while Blaine McGowan added one sack of his own.

DC ended with five sacks and 10 quarterback hurries in the victory, while also piling up 12 tackles for a loss that resulted in 70 negative yards for the AU offense.

Burrell powered the attack for Defiance, carrying the ball 13 times for a career-high 87 yards and his first collegiate score, while Carrabino and Mason each hauled in one touchdown through the air.

Saunders also had a career-day, booting three field goals in as many attempts and connecting on a trio of point-after tries for a total of 12 points on the afternoon.

Defiance (1-3, 1-1 HCAC) will look to make it two in a row when it travels to Richmond, Ind., on Saturday, September 29 for a 2:00 pm start against Earlham (0-4, 0-2 HCAC).