Football vs. Franklin -- Week 9 Game Notes

DEFIANCE, OHIO  - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets travel to Franklin, Ind. for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game against Franklin (Ind.) College at 1:30 p.m. [Complete Game Notes in PDF]

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Series History

Saturday's meeting will be the 17th meeting between the two schools.  Franklin leads the series record, 12-4

Franklin has won the previous nine meetings, including a 48-14 decision last year at Coressel Stadium.  The last time the Yellow Jackets defeated the Grizzlies was during the 2005 season with a score of 38-23. 

Last season, current junior Cody Wilson caught five passes for 63 yards to lead the returning offensive players.  Fellow junior Kenny Jones scored one of the team's touchdowns with a 63-yard interception return.  Also defensively, senior Andrew Feldhaus had a team-high seven tackles (six solo and one assist) to go along with a blocked kick. 

Scouting the Yellow Jackets

Defiance returns 36 lettermen, including 17 starters in 2015. 

The offense is averaging 271.6 yards per game.    Freshman Andre Adderly (West Palm Beach, Fla./Village Academy) is listed as the starter for this week.  Coming into the game, Adderly has completed 12-of-35 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.  He has also rushed for 234 yards on 54 carries (4.3 yards per carry) with a pair of TD.

The Yellow Jackets have a young backfield with sophomore Anthony Righi  (Liberty Center) listed as the starter.  Coming into this week, Righi has carried the ball 90 times for a team-high 336 yards (3.7 yards per carry) and two TD.  Last week, Righi rushed for a career-best 120 yards against Anderson (Ind.) University. Also look for a host of other players to see their share of carries including freshman Tanner Hughes (Pierceton, Ind./Whitko) and junior Cody Wilson (McComb).  Wilson is second on the team with 307 yards on 30 touches (10.2 ypc.) and two scores, while Hughes has carried the ball 39 times for 133 yards (3.4 ypc.) and two TD.

At the wideout position, look for juniors Cody Wilson, Andy Foore (Swanton) and freshmen Devin Bolden (Lake Worth, Fla./Wellington) and Nate Roberts (St. Petersburg, Fla./Boca Ciega) to start.  Wilson leads the team in receiving with 38 catches for 373 yards (9.8 yards per catch) and two TD.  Bolden is second with 10 receptions for 179 yards (17.9 yards per catch) and two TD.  Roberts is third with seven receptions for 70 yards and TD.  Foore is fourth with six catches for 97 yards (16.2 ypc.).

On defense, Defiance is currently allowing 328.2 yards per game, and has accounted for 18 takeaways this season with 12 interceptions and six fumble recoveries.

The defensive line will be anchored by seniors Kyle Wilson (Wauseon) and Cody Lee (Tampa, Fla./Jefferson).  Kyle Wilson has made 29 total tackles (16 solo and 13 assists) to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.  Lee has made 24 tackles (13 solo and 11 assists), including four tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.  Also look for junior Matt DeVore (Van Buren) and sophomore Greg Ward (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) to start alongside Kyle Wilson and Lee.

The linebackers will start junior Keandre Gilmer (Toledo/Rogers) and freshman Jalin Nealy (Pontiac, Mich./West Bloomfield).  Gilmer leads the team in tackles with 59 (38 solo and 21 assists) and has 8.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.  Nealy is tied for second in tackles with 51 (27 solo and 24 assists).  He also has a team-high nine tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. 

The Jacket secondary is led by junior Kenny Jones (Toledo/Bowsher) and freshman Dalin Brown (Port St. Lucie, Fla./St. Lucie Wester Center) at the corners along with senior Andrew Feldhaus (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner), junior Cody Wiggins (Howell, Mich./Howell) and freshman Beau Barkley at the safety positions.  Jones is sixth on the team in tackles with 33 (24 solo and nine assists).  He is tied for the team-lead in interceptions with two and also has a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.  Brown has made 12 stops (eight solo and four assists) to go along with an interception.  Feldhaus is tied for second in tackles with 51 (34 solo and 17 assists) to go along with seven tackles for loss and two sacks.  Wiggins has made 12 tackles (10 solo and two assists) to go along with a tackle for loss and two interceptions.  Barkley has made 30 tackles (18 solo and 12 assists) with two tackles for loss, a half sack, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick. 

On special teams, freshman Tyler L'Heureux  (Apopka, Fla./Apopka) will handle the place kicking duties, while junior Seth Bauer (Findlay/Arcadia) will be the team's starting punter.  L'Heureux is seven-of-nine in field goal attempts and 14-of-17 in extra point opportunities for 35 points scored.  Bauer has punted the ball 32 times and is averaging 31.7 yards per punt.  He has recorded one punt over 50 yards and has pinned the opponent inside their 20-yard line on four occasions. 

Scouting the Grizzlies

The Franklin offense has been averaging 537.1 total yards per game through eight games this season.

Calling the plays for the Grizzlies will be sophomore Chase Burton  Coming into this week's game, Burton has completed 205-of-307 passes for 2,643 yards with 27 touchdown and six interceptions.   He has also rushed for 92 yards on 50 attempts and has a team-high seven TD.

Expect to see the Grizzlies line up with one person in the backfield in junior Kole Stogner getting the start.  Stogner is second on the team in rushing with 376 yards on 73 carries (5.2 yards per carry) and three TD.   Also look for backup, junior Ty'Ronte Files to get his share of carries.  He leads the team in both carries (87) and yards (614) and has found the endzone five times.

At the wide receiver position, sophomore Lee Wroblewski, senior Mason Deal and sophomore Darrell Crenshaw will be the starters.  Wroblewski leads all wideouts with 42 catches for 687 yards and 10 TD.

Defensively, Franklin is allowing 345.0 yards per game (125.5 rushing and 219.5 passing).              

The Grizzlies line up in a 4-3 scheme, and will start senior Nate Bryan, juniors Solomon Knight, Devante Ash and sophomore Zach Turner on the defensive line.   Bryan leads all linemen with 31 tackles (20 solo and 11 assists) to go along with 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

At linebacker, Franklin will start three upperclassmen in seniors Jeremiah Windell, Lucas Windell and junior Austin Day.  Jeremiah Windell leads the team in tackles with 59 (44 solo and 15 assists) and has 4.5 tackles for loss.   Lucas Windell and Day are tied for second with 40 tackles each.

The secondary will feature junior Taylor Christensen and Trevon Sevion at the corners and junior Zay Thornton and sophomore Ryan Conner at the safety positions.  Christensen leads the secondary in tackles with 30 (20 solo and 10 assists) to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss and a team-high three interceptions.

On special teams, sophomore Stephen Colligan is listed as the team's starting placekicker and senior Cody Beeks is the team's starting punter.  So far this season, Colligan has made three-of-five field goal attempts and is 40-of-44 in extra point attempts for 49 points.  Beeks is currently averaging 36.4 yards per punt in 24 tries.  He has recorded seven punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line so far this season.