Yellow Jackets Beaten by Franklin (Ind.) on Senior Day

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College football team fell, 48-14, against Franklin (Ind.) College in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game and home finale at Justin F. Coressel Stadium on senior day.

With the loss, the Yellow Jackets fall to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in the HCAC.  The Grizzlies improve to 7-2 overall and remain unbeaten in conference play at 7-0.

DC put up 351 yards of offense against Franklin (156 rushing and 195 passing) with sophomore quarterback Alex Larson (Highland, Mich./Milford) completing 21-of-36 passes for 195 yards.  He was also the team's leading rusher with 89 yards on 15 carries.  Sophomore Cody Wilson (McComb) led all Yellow Jacket receivers with 63 yards on five catches.  Defensively, DC recorded an interception return for touchdown, its fourth in two games, as sophomore Kenny Jones (Toledo/Bowsher) had a 63-yard interception return for a score.  Junior safety Andrew Feldhaus (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner) led the team in tackles with seven (six solo and one assist).

Franklin capitalized early scoring on its first drive of the game and went 71 yards in seven plays to find the endzone on a 28-yard completion to grab the early lead.  On the Grizzlies next possession, the DC defense forced a punt and blocked the kick which would have given the Yellow Jackets momentum and excellent field position.  But the blocked kick touched a DC player and Franklin recovered the loose ball to regain possession.  Momentum shifted again, however, when the DC defense came up big when Jones intercepted an errant pass and returned it 63 yards for the score and even the game at 7-7 with 3:29 to go.  Neither team added any more points before the end of the period, as the team's went into the second period deadlocked at 7-7.

The Grizzlies regained the lead early in the second quarter on a one-play scoring drive thanks to an 80-yard pass play making the score 14-7 at the 10:57 mark.  Franklin then took control scoring on its next two drives with a 41-yard TD completion and a 58-yard TD scamper to make it a 27-7 ball game with 2:30 left in the half.  With less than 30 seconds left before halftime, Franklin looked for a potential "pick-six" of its own when a Grizzly defender stepped in front of a Larson pass and returned it 48 yards but would be pushed out of bounds at the Defiance 32-yard line.  The interception set up a 49-yard field goal attempt with a second remaining, but the kick attempt sailed wide right, keeping the score at 27-7 heading into the intermission.

Following a three-and-out by Defiance to begin the second half, Franklin looked to put the game away with a 10-yard completion that found the endzone and extended the margin to 34-7 at the 10:49 mark.  The Grizzlies then added two more score before the end of the third quarter on a two-yard TD run and a blocked Defiance punt that was recovered in the endzone to put Franklin up 48-7 heading into the final 15 minutes.

In a drive that began with 2:19 left in the third quarter, the final Defiance score came with 14:11 left in the game when senior running back Trevon Burrell (Auburn Hills, Mich./Avondale) scored from three-yards out to narrow the deficit to 48-14.  The Burrell TD was also the final points scored in the game as Franklin went on to post the 48-14 victory.

Franklin ended the game with 473 yards of total offense (135 rushing and 338 passing) with quarterback Grant Welp completing 20-of-32 passes for 331 yards and four TD.  Zach Cole led the tema in rushing with 62 yards on three carries and a TD.  The Grizzlies had two players record over 100 receiving yards with Jonny Hession catching a game-high seven passes for 125 yards and a pair of TD.  Mason Deal caught four passes for a game-high 126 yards to go along with a TD.  Defensively, Franklin was lec in tackles by Jeremiah Windell with nine total stops (seven solo and two assists).

Defiance will wrap-up the 2014 season when it travels to Bluffton for a HCAC showdown against Bluffton University next Saturday, Nov. 15.  The game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.