Football Opens 2019 Season with Trip to Albion

ALBION, Mich. - Under the lights of Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium on the campus of Albion College, the Defiance College football team kicked-off the 2019 season on Saturday evening. The youthful Yellow Jackets fell to the Britons by a final score of 56-6. 

A strong first quarter saw the Yellow Jacket defense swarm to two interceptions. On the Britons third drive of the game, Ahmad Burroughs (Irvington, N.J. / Amercian History) grabbed the first turnover of the contest. Maurice Ponder (Dallas, Tex.) got in on the turnover action with his pick in Albion territory with just under two minutes on the clock. The Yellow Jackets stingy defense saw the hosts with a 7-0 lead after the first quarter. 

After a 21-0 deficit at halftime, Head Coach Manny Matsakis' side grabbed their first points of the affair in the third quarter. Started with a Machari Bighams (Homerville, Ga. / Clinch County) 29-yard kickoff return, the Yellow Jackets marched into the Briton red-zone. After completing a pass to Amin Shaheed (Fayetteville, Ga. / Sandy Creek) to take DC to the one-yard line, freshman quarterback Reggie Washington (Laurel, Md. / Aberdeen) was poised to rush into the endzone for Defiance's lone score of the evening. 

Washington concluded his debut in Purple and Gold with 131 yards on 36 pass attempts. Jacob Vorce (Paw Paw, Mich. / Paw Paw) was DC's top target. The senior reeled in 5 passes for 53 yards including a 25-yard completion. 

Defensively, Ponder snagged a second interception in the second half to raise DC's total to three. Steven Lucas (Warren, Mich. / Center Line) wrapped up 11 Britons, leading the way in tackles for the Purple and Gold. Burroughs and Mark Thompson (Houston, Tex. / College Park) followed with eight and five tackles of their own. 

The Yellow Jackets will continue their northern adventures on Saturday, September 14, as they travel to Hope College for another battle with an MIAA foe. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 pm.