Jackets Stumble to Season-Ending Loss

DEFIANCE, Ohio -- Defiance had its Senior Day spoiled by Bluffton on Saturday, as the Beavers rallied from 14-3 and 21-10 deficits to hand the Jackets a 22-21 defeat. DC saw its lead slip away after a trio of turnovers in the second half opened the door for the Bluffton comeback.

Defiance had it clicking early, as it took the first possession of the game 63 yards to pay dirt and the early 6-0 lead. The six-play drive was capped by a 27-yard touchdown pass to Luke Dillon to tie the senior receiver in the record books with Sam Williams with his 14th score of the season. The 27-yard reception also gave Dillon the single-season receiving yards record.

The Beavers absorbed the early blow by Defiance and answered by marching 55 yards on 11 plays on their first drive. Bluffton then cut the lead in half with a 29-yard field goal off the foot of Jonathan Thompson.

The DC lead swelled to 14-3 later in the opening quarter after a dominant showing by the Yellow Jacket defense pushed Bluffton backwards for a total of 31 yards on Blufftons next drive. The string of tackles for lost yards began when Travis Guisinger and Bill Dues sniffed a reverse play and stopped it for a five-yard loss. Back-to-back sacks then pushed BU back 15 more yards and forced a fourth and 30. The ensuing punt attempt failed and resulted in a loss of 11 yards as Eric Swartz busted through the line and tackled the Beaver punter before he could get the kick away.

The Jackets capitalized on the great field position, running the ball five times on the 21-yard scoring drive. Lewis Caralla finished the drive by charging across the goal line from one yard out to give DC the 11-point spread.

Neither side would score again until deep in the third quarter when the teams traded touchdowns. Bluffton struck first with a quick 81-yard march down the field. The drive was highlighted by a 65-yard pass to Gregori Mason and completed by a five-yard touchdown pass from Benjamin Illnicki to Edward Jackson.

Defiance bounced back with a scoring drive fueled by 11 rushing plays. Caralla gave DC its second 11-point cushion of the afternoon with a score from seven yards out to make it 21-10 with 4:40 left in the third quarter.

The Yellow Jacket offense stalled from that point on and was hindered by three interceptions thrown by Hans Vetter. Bluffton kept its attack going however, and grabbed the 22-21 lead with touchdowns on its first two drives of the fourth quarter.

Defiance gained 209 yards on the ground in the loss, but the five turnovers and lackluster passing attack were too much to overcome. Bluffton could only muster 11 yards on the ground on 42 carries, but countered with 249 yards through the air.

Caralla led the DC offense with 144 yards on 29 touches and a pair of touchdowns and Luke Dillon led the receiving unit with four catches for 55 yards and a score.

Dillon ends his DC career as the schools all-time leader with 28 receiving touchdowns and holds the single-season and single-game records for receptions, yards and touchdowns. The All-American candidate ends his record-shattering season with 93 catches for 1,241 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Keith Snyder paced the Jacket defense with 15 tackles to push his season total to 111 and Chris Tietje racked up 13 hits and 3.0 sacks in his final collegiate contest. R.J. Chidester also closed out his career at Defiance with one of his best performances, registering 10 tackles, 3.5 hits for negative yardage and a sack.

Defiance ends its 2007 campaign with a 5-5 record overall and finishes 4-3 in the HCAC.