Defiance and Mount Union to Clash in 2022 & 2023

DEFIANCE, OHIO - The University of Mount Union and Defiance College have linked a deal to play a home and home non-conference football series in 2022 and 2023.

The 2022 game will be Saturday, September 3 at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, while the 2022 game will be Saturday, September 2 at Justin F. Coressel Stadium in Defiance, Ohio.  The kickoff times will be decided at a later date.

Defiance has 600 students and the Yellow Jackets are members of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The teams have played five previous times dating back to 1929 with Mount Union winning all five of those previous meetings. The teams played a four-game series from 1994-1997 and it marked the last time the Purple Raiders single non-conference game was against a team from the Buckeye state.

Overall, Mount Union has an 11-1 record against current members of the HCAC including a 54-0 win against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) earlier this season.

Many of Mount Union's non-conference opponents have all experienced post-season success in and around the time of the series with the Raiders. Bethany -- the 2014 and 2015 opponent -- had its first winning season in 13 years in 2014, Franklin (Ind.) – the 2012 and 2013 opponent - has made the NCAA Playoffs eight of the last nine seasons, Wisconsin-Oshkosh – the 2010 and 2011 opponent – advanced to the NCAA Playoff semifinals in 2017 while St. John Fisher (N.Y.) – the 2008 and 2009 opponent – has played a post-season game eight of the last nine seasons.

"We respect Defiance, Coach Matsakis, and his staff and know with his experience that he will have his team ready," commented Mount Union head football coach Vince Kehres. "I know our program and our fans are excited to open these seasons with Defiance."

"I have so much respect for Mount Union and what its program has established over the years," stated Defiance head coach Manny Matsakis. "The standard of excellence they have achieved is incredible and putting Mount Union on the schedule sends a message to everyone that is a part of our program that our expectation is to compete at the highest level possible."

This match-up is also interesting because each head coach has been mentored by a member of the College Football Hall of Fame; Larry Kehres (Mount Union) and Bill Snyder (Kansas State).

Matsakis attended fellow Ohio Athletic Conference member Capital, where he was a three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference performer and went on to be drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1984. Before taking over at Defiance this past fall, he spent three seasons at Widener (Pa.) as offensive coordinator and also had coaching stints at Wyoming, Emporia State, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Hofstra. He also found success outside of coaching serving as the founder and CEO of American Football Monthly, a trade journal that was created to help coaches improve in the profession.

Defiance athletic director Jodie Holava is also a Mount Union alum.