Jackets Win Big Against Earlham (Ind.) on Homecoming

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Yellow Jacket offense rushed for over 300 yards as the Defiance College football team defeated Earlham (Ind.) College, 51-7, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Justin F. Coressel Stadium on Homecoming.  It marked the third time in the past five seasons that DC has rushed for 300 yards or more against the Quakers.

The DC defense also had a big day forcing five total turnovers (four interceptions and one fumble), including an interception return for touchdown by sophomore Kolton Davis (Toledo/Bowsher).  It's the fifth touchdown the Jacket defense has scored this season.  In addition to Kolton Davis, sophomore Greg Ward (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti), junior Cody Wiggins (Howell, Mich./Howell) and freshman Dalin Brown (Port St. Lucie, Fla./St. Lucie Wester Center) each had an interception.  Freshman Beau Barkley (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Churubusco) had a game-tying high seven tackles (five solo and two assists), including a tackle for loss.

The Yellow Jackets rushed for a total of 334 yards with junior Cody Wilson (McComb) rushing for a career and game-high 95 yards on six carries.  Freshman quarterback Andre Adderly (West Palm Beach, Fla./Village Academy) was second in rushing with 89 yards on 15 attempts and scored two TD.  He also completed four-of-10 passes for 57 yards and had a pair of TD tosses to fiinsh with four total TD on the day (two rushing and two passing).  

In addition, Sophomore tailback Anthony Righi (Liberty Center) rushed for 75 yards on 10 carries and a TD, while freshman Tanner Hughes (Pierceton, Ind./Whitko) scored the other rushing TD for DC to go along with 41 yards on 10 touches to round out the leaders.

Freshman Devin Bolden (Lake Worth, Fla./Wellington) caught two passes for a team-high 40 yards and was on the receiving end of both of Adderly's TD passes.

Defiance (2-5, 2-3 HCAC) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard scoring on its first three offensive possessions of the game.  In its first drive, which was highlighted by a 26-yard run by Adderly on the second play from srimmage, the Yellow Jackets ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown run by Hughes for an early 7-0 lead.  Following a turnover on downs by Earlham (0-8, 0-6 HCAC), DC struck again on a 30-yard pass play from Adderly to Bolden to round out the scoring in the first quarter and lead 14-0.

In a drive that began at the end of the first quarter, DC found paydirt for a third consectutive time early in the second frame when Righi scored from 12 yards out, but the extra point was blocked, making the score 20-0 with 14:20 left in the half.  Later in the period, Defiance set up another TD thanks to Ward's interception to end a Quaker drive and the tandem of Adderly and Bolden connected again, this time on a 10-yard completion, increasing the margin to 27-0.  The final points of the half came on an eight-yard run by Adderly that was set up by back-to-back runs of 16 and 41 yards by Cody Wilson to give the Jackets a commanding 34-0 advantage at the intermission.

DC scored 17 more points in the second half with 10 coming in the third quarter on a season-long 44-yard field goal by freshman Tyler L'Heureux (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) and a three-yard run by Adderly.  The Quaker's lone score came with just seconds to go in the third quarter that ended a 12-play drive making the score 44-7 heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Jackets added an exclamation point when Kolton Davis stepped in front of an Earlham pass attempt and returned it 39 yards for the score as Defiance cruised to the 51-7 final.

Earlham was held to 173 total yards of offense (89 rushing and 84 passing) and was led by quarterback Wesley Hundley who completed 11-of-83 passes for 83 yards, but threw three interceptions.  He was also the team's leading rusher with 62 yards on 14 carries and scored the lone TD.  Marcus Cooper caught a game-high five passes for 33 yards.

Defiance will travel to Anderson, Ind. next Saturday (Oct. 31) for a HCAC game against Anderson University.  The game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.