Defense Leads Yellow Jackets in 43-7 Victory Over Earlham

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets football team picked up its second straight win Saturday afternoon after defeating Earlham College 43-7 at Justin F. Coressel Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets (2-3, 2-1 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) forced five Earlham (1-4, 0-3 HCAC) turnovers and totaled 408 yards of offense to put away the Quakers for the fourth straight year.

Defiance jumped out to a 22-0 lead early in the first quarter, fueling the big day for the Yellow Jackets. The scoring started on the second play of the game with a Tony Sierra fumble strip, followed by a 41-yard return by the senior defensive back to put DC up 7-0.

On the ensuing possession for Earlham, Sierra picked off a Matt Couch pass at the DC 1-yard line and returned it 61 yards before finally being brought down at the EC 38.

Sierra finished the game with a team-high nine tackles and also had five pass breakups in the game.

On Earlham's second possession of the game, the defense picked up two more points as a snap deep in the Quakers territory went past Couch and the quarterback knocked the ball out of the end zone for a safety.

After the following kickoff was returned by Daniel Collins to the Earlham 35, Alex Larson connected with Cody Wilson on a 35-yard pass play for a touchdown on first down. DC led 15-0 after the extra point was blocked. The catch was Wilson's only one of the day.

Before the end of the first quarter, Sierra returned a short punt 47 yards into EC territory. Trevon Burrell followed it up with consecutive runs of 13 and 16 yards, the second of which put Defiance up 22-0. Burrell finished the game as the leading rusher for the Yellow Jackets, totaling 83 yards and the touchdown run.

After a quiet second quarter, and an Earlham touchdown, DC went into the halftime break with a 22-7 lead.

The Defiance defense continued its strong play Saturday and put up several big plays to keep Earlham from mounting a comeback. Andrew Feldhaus picked off a pair of passes in the game, including one in the Defiance end zone that ended a potential scoring drive for the Quakers.

Feldhaus returned the ball for a combined 34 yards on the two interception plays. He finished the day tied with Sierra for the team high in tackles with nine.

In the third quarter, Larson added a rushing touchdown to his numbers for the day, running in from 19 yards out to put DC up 29-7.

Larson finished the day with 64 yards rushing and 149 yards passing and the pair of touchdowns.

Early in the fourth quarter, Lawrence Austin added another rushing touchdown for the Yellow Jackets, breaking open a 23-yard scoring run to give DC a 36-7 lead.

Kenny Jones wrapped up the scoring on the day and an exclamation point to the defenses day when he picked off a Couch pass and returned it 52 yards for a Yellow Jacket touchdown.

Bryan Weaver led the way receiving for the Yellow Jackets. Weaver had three receptions for 36 yards. Aaron Spence, Brian Mircovich, and Trey White each had two receptions.

Defiance will remain home next week when the Yellow Jackets hosts homecoming festivities as Manchester University visits Coressel Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.