Football Set for Homecoming Clash Against Manchester

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Defiance College Yellow Jackets (2-3, 2-1 HCAC) will host Manchester University (1-4, 1-2 HCAC) for an HCAC clash this Saturday for Homecoming Weekend. The Yellow Jackets and the Spartans will meet for the 47th time in the history of the series and are set to kickoff at 1:30 p.m inside Justin F. Coressel Stadium. [Game Notes]

Defiance leads the all-time series with Manchester 27-19. The Yellow Jackets hold a narrow 7-6 margin over Manchester in the 13 games played between the two schools since Defiance joined the HCAC in 2000.

Three of the last four games between DC and MU have been settled by six points or less.

The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a four interception day against Earlham. It is the second straight week that the Yellow Jackets have picked off four opponent passes.

The Yellow Jackets have put up more total yards of offense in all five games this season.  DC is averaging 370.2 yards of offense per game while limiting opponents to 234.4.

Manchester Series History
Saturday's meeting will be the 47th meeting in the history of the two programs. DC holds a 27-19 (.587) series advantage over the Spartans. 

Last season the Yellow Jackets fell to Manchester 34-28 in North Manchester, Ind.

Since Defiance joined the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2000, Defiance has a slight margin in the series, winning seven of 13 games between the two schools.

Series history in the HCAC
Year    Winner  Score    
2012    MU       34-28
2011    MU       32-6
2010    DC       10-7
2009    MU       20-19
2008    MU       20-7
2007    DC       27-8
2006    DC       19-7
2005    MU       32-29
2004    DC       19-14
2003    DC       20-16
2002    MU       18-14
2001    DC       38-20
2000    DC       21-12

Record Against the States
The Yellow Jackets will play their fourth of six games against teams from the "Hoosier" state this weekend. DC improved to 2-1 this season against teams from Indiana after beating Earlham last weekend.

Defiance has played in 216 games against schools from the state of Indiana in the program's history. The Yellow Jackets hold a narrow series margin over schools from the border state to the west, leading the series 110-104-2. 

Last Time out
The Yellow Jackets football team picked up its second straight win after defeating Earlham College 43-7. DC forced five Earlham turnovers and totaled 408 yards of offense to put away the Quakers.

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 a Tony Sierra 41-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

After DC forced a safety on Earlham, Alex Larson connected with Cody Wilson on a 35-yard pass play for a touchdown. Trevon Burrell followed it up with consecutive runs of 13 and 16 yards, the second of which put Defiance up 22-0. 

Larson added a rushing touchdown in the third to put DC up 29-7. Lawrence Austin added another rushing touchdown in the fourth and Kenny Jones wrapped up the scoring on the day with a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown.

National leaders
Defiance College is in rare company as it sits at the midway point of the 2013 season. The Yellow Jackets have a pair of defensive backs that lead in three individual categories in NCAA Division III.

Senior cornerback Tony Sierra and sophomore Andrew Feldhaus find themselves at the top of Division III. 

Sierra, a native of Warren, Mich., leads Division III in a pair of categories; interceptions and passes defended. Sierra currently sits in a tie for national lead with five interceptions, averaging one a game. The Cousino High School product holds the outright national lead with 18 passes defended on the year, an average of 3.6 per game.

Feldhaus has also forced some turnovers this season and sits in a tie for the national lead in forced fumbles. The Lutz, Fla. native has five on the season, averaging one per game.

Homecoming 
Coach Brian Sheehan picked up his first win in charge of the Purple and Gold in last season's homecoming game against Anderson. The win led to DC's victory against Earlham the next weekend. In 2013, the Yellow Jackets already have wins against Anderson and Earlham heading into this year's homecoming festivities.

Looking for three
Defiance is looking for its third straight win this weekend against Manchester. The Yellow Jackets have not won three straight games since October 2011 when the Yellow Jackets went undefeated in the month of October, winning four straight games.

Winning the turnovers battle
The Yellow Jacket defense has been striving to win the turnover battle all season and the result through five weeks is that the DC defense is sitting amongst the best in the nation in turnovers forced. Defiance is currently second in the nation in turnovers gained with 19 (3.8/gm). DC has 11 passes intercepted (2.2/gm), which is second best in Division III and DC's eight fumbles recovered (1.6/gm) is also second best.

A Fresh look
Freshman quarterback Alex Larson came out and helped lead the Yellow Jackets to a win after missing three weeks because of an injury. The win was the first for the Highland, Mich. native as a starter. Despite only starting and playing in two games this season, the dual-threat quarterback has thrown for 428 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 176 yards and two more scores.

Ball hogs
The Yellow Jackets have held onto the ball for an average of 34:14 through five games this season. The time of possession is tops in the HCAC and 17th in NCAA Division III.

Winning in the trenches
The Yellow Jackets big men are winning the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The Yellow Jacket offense averages 202.4 yards per game on the ground this season, tops in the HCAC. The offensive line has blocked the Yellow Jackets to three 200+ yard rushing games and over 150 yards in every game.

The defense also sits atop the HCAC and in fourth nationally in Division III, allowing just 57.6 yards rushing per game. The defense has allowed just one 100+ yard rushing game (148 by Rose-Human, Week 3) by an opponent this season.

Doing it well
The Yellow Jackets lead the HCAC in 15 categories (12 defense, two offense, one special teams). In those categories, DC sits in the top 50 nationally in 14 categories and in the top 25 nationally in nine categories.