DePauw Opens Home Portion of Gridiron Season with 24-10 Loss to Centre
Centre scored both of its offensive touchdowns on drives which totaled just three plays and added a defensive score on the way to a 24-10 win over Centre in the Tigers' home opener at Blackstock Stadium. The Tigers slipped to 1-3 with their third straight loss, while the Colonels improved to 4-0.
DePauw's defense came up big in the opening quarter as the Tigers stopped the Colonels on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with Jack Quinn stopping Centre's Jonathan Pinque.
The Tigers quickly moved out of the shadow of their own end zone and drove to the Centre 31 after Jackson Kirtley (left) completed a 33-yard pass to Brody Schoen on third down. DePauw fumbled on the next play, but Centre fumbled on the recovery which gave the Tigers the ball on the Centre 41. DePauw was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt.
Early in the second Centre recovered a DePauw fumble at the Tigers' seven and needed just two plays with quarterback Tyler Osterman scoring from the 5 and giving the Colonels a 7-0 lead.
On their next series, the Colonels drove to the DePauw 5, but the Tigers' Steve Valdiserri intercepted Osterman in the end zone to end the threat. Centre's Jordan Gay booted a 30-yard field goal as time expired in the first half with the Colonels leading, 10-0.
Centre quickly pushed that to 17-0 as Michael Del Prince returned the second half kickoff 48 yards and Osterman completed a 45-yard scoring pass to Rob Melillo on the first play of the half.
DePauw reached the board on its initial possession of the third as the Tigers' drove to the Centre 13 before Eric Malm booted a 31-yard field goal to trim the lead to 17-3 with 8:41 remaining in the third.
The big blow for the Tigers came early in the fourth as Les Bolden scooped up a DePauw fumble at the Tigers' 20-yard line and scored to make it 24-3 with 12:54 remaining.
The Tigers' next series ended on downs at the Centre 30 and the following one on an interception.
DePauw's Myron Burr blocked Gay's 24-yard field goal try with 2:21 left and the Tigers took over on their own 15. Kirtley drove the Tigers to the Centre 1 including a 24-yard scamper and Bryan Coleman scored form the 1 with just 41 seconds left.
DePauw held a 20-19 advantage in first downs including 11 in the fourth quarter. Centre outgained the Tigers, 329-284 with DePauw holding a 143-137 edge on the ground.
Kirtley paced DePauw with 95 rushing yards on 18 carries and passed for 141 yards while completing 15-of-32. Schoen hauled in seven for 78 yards.
Osterman completed 15-of-25 passes for 192 yards with Melillo catching five for 74 yards. Pinque rushed for 74 yards on 19 carries.
Ben Brandstatter (right) led the DePauw defense with 14 total tackles, while Mitch Dwenger and Robby Schuler each added seven. Patrick Keller had the Tigers' lone sack.
Jared Ferguson led Centre with nine tackles with Michael Bozarth and Ryan Gallas adding seven each. Paul Megilligan and Grant Poston had one sack apiece in the win.
DePauw is off next week and returns to action on October 15 when it travels to Sewanee.
