Football Beaten By Franklin in HCAC Opener

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  The Defiance College football team dropped a 41-6 decision against Franklin (Ind.) College in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at Justin F. Coressel Stadium.

Defiance's (1-2, 0-1 HCAC) lone score came late in the fourth quarter within the last minute of the game when senior tight end Tom Woehnker (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) made a nice grab in the corner of the endzone on a pass by sophomore quarterback Logan Scott (Curtice/Genoa) that ended a 13-play, 54-yard drive.  

The Yellow Jackets totaled 298 yards of offense with 163 yards on the ground.  Sophomore Corey Bennett (Tampa, Fla./Blake) led all rushers with 77 yards on 14 carries (5.5 yards per rush).  Freshman Demaria Washington (Miami, Fla./Dr. Phillips) also had a productive day with 53 yards on 13 carries (4.1 yards per rush).

Scott threw for 135 yards while completing 17-of-41 passes with the touchdown pass to Woehnker.  Bennett also caught a team-high five passes for 21 yards.  Freshman wide receiver Jason Santora (Avon) led the Yellow Jacket receivers with 62 yards on four catches.

Defensively, senior Keandre Gilmer (Toledo/Rogers) finished with a game-high 14 tackles (10 solo and four assists) and broke up a pair of passes.  Sophomore Jalin Nealy (Pontiac, Mich./West Bloomfield) was second with eight stops (five solo and three assists), which inlcuded a tackle for loss.

Franklin (2-1, 1-0 HCAC) jumped out early scoring on every possession in the first quarter.  The Grizzlies scored their first TD on a 41-yard pass play at the 11:15 minute mark.  The other two scores also came through the air with pass plays of 13 and 15 yards.  The lone misstep for Franklin in the opening period was a blocked extra point, but the Grizzlies still led 20-0 after the first 15 minutes.

Franklin went on to add one score in each of the remaining quarters that included a 19-yard completion in the second quarter that extended the Grizzly lead to 27-0 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, FC found paydirt late in the period on a 17-yard run making the score 34-0  heading into the fourth quarter.

The final score of the game for the visiting team campe at the 12:13 mark with a 19-yard pass completion that was set up by a blocked DC punt attempt on a bad snap.  The TD put the Grizzlies up, 41-0, at the time and following the TD by the Jackets to end the game, Franklin went to win by the final of 41-6.

The Grizzlies had 431 yards of offense (93 rushing and 338 passing) and was led by quarterback Chase Burton who completed 21-of-29 passes for 253 yards and four TD.  Darrell Crenshaw had game-highs of 10 receptions for 92 yards and a score.  Ty'Ronte Files led the Franklin ground game with 64 yards on 15 carries and found the endzone once.

Defiance will end its three-game homestand next Saturday (Sept. 24) when it hosts Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in a HCAC matchup at Coressel Stadium.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.