Yellow Jackets Set for Clash With In-State Rival MSJ

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets (3-3, 3-1 HCAC) will travel to Mount St. Joseph College (3-2, 3-1 HCAC) for an HCAC clash between the teams tied for third place in the HCAC standings. The Yellow Jackets and the Lions will meet for the 22nd time in the history of the series and are set to kickoff at 1:30 p.m. [Game Notes]

The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a four-turnover day against Manchester. It is the fourth-straight week that the Yellow Jackets have had at least four turnovers and it is the sixth straight conference game that DC has completed the feat.

The Yellow Jackets have put up more total yards of offense in all six games this season.  DC is averaging 369 yards of offense per game while limiting opponents to 235.

Series History
Saturday's meeting will be the 22nd meeting in the history of the two programs. DC holds a narrow 11-10 series advantage over the Lions. Last season the Yellow Jackets fell to Manchester 21-0 at home. However, DC has won three of the last five. In the last five games between MSJ and DC, the winner has scored between 21 and 24 points in the game.

Record Against the States
The Yellow Jackets will play their first of two games against teams that share the "Buckeye" state as its home.

Defiance has played in 375 games against schools from the state of Ohio in the program's history. The Yellow Jackets are behind in the series against teams from Ohio, trailing the series 168-195-12.

National leaders
Defiance College is in rare company as it sits six games into the 2013 season. The Yellow Jackets have a pair of defensive backs that are among the leaders in three individual categories in NCAA Division III, while also leading a team category as well.

Tony Sierra, a native of Warren, Mich., leads Division III in a pair of categories; interceptions and passes defended. Sierra currently sits in a tie for national lead with five interceptions. He also holds the outright national lead with 20 passes defended on the year, an average of 3.3 per game.

Andrew Feldhaus has also forced some turnovers this season and sits in a tie for the national lead in forced fumbles with five. He also is tied for second with four fumbles recovered.

Sierra, Feldhaus and therest of the defense also lead the nation in turnivers forced. The Yellow Jacket have 23 turnovers forced on the year.

Player of the Week 
After an outstanding performance in last week's victory over Manchester, Andrew Feldhaus has been named the HCAC's Defensive Player of the Week. In the homecoming game for the Yellow Jackets, the sophomore defensive back was all over the field for Purple and Gold. Feldhuas (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner) picked up a fumble recovery in the first quarter that led to a touchdown for the Defiance offense and then Feldhaus added two fourth quarter interceptions that ended threatening Manchester drives late in the contest.  Feldhaus also added six tackles in the win.

Streaking
Defiance is looking for its fourth straight win this weekend. The Yellow Jackets have not won four straight games since October 2011 when the Yellow Jackets went undefeated in the month of October, winning four straight.

Ball hogs
The Yellow Jackets have held onto the ball for an average of 34:11 through six games this season. The time of possession is tops in the HCAC and 16th in NCAA Division III.

Turnover record
The Yellow Jackets have forced at least four turnovers in each of last four games this season, all HCAC games. The Yellow Jackets started the streak with four fumbles recovered against Rose-Hulman. The next week against Anderson, the DC had two fumble recoveries and four interceptions. Against Earlham, the defense had four interceptions and recovered a fumble. Last week DC forced a fumble and three interceptions against Manchester. In total, the Yellow Jackets have 19 turnovers (eight fumble recoveries and 11 interceptions) during the four-game streak.

Dating back to the 2012 season, the Yellow Jackets have forced at least four turnovers against HCAC opponents in six straight games. Defiance had four fumble recoveries and an interception against Franklin and followed it up with three fumble recoveries and an interception against Bluffton to close out the season. In total, DC has forced 29 turnovers in the last six HCAC games.

Winning in the trenches
The Yellow Jackets big men are winning the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The Yellow Jacket offense averages 196.8 yards per game on the ground this season, tops in the HCAC. The offensive line has blocked the Yellow Jackets to three 200+ yard rushing games and over 150 yards in every game. The defense also sits atop the HCAC and in fifth nationally in Division III, allowing just 66.3 yards rushing per game. The defense has held opponents tounder 150 yards rushing in all six games this season.