WEBCAST / LIVE STATS / GAME NOTES
DEFIANCE, Ohio - Defiance will look to extend a home winning streak over Mount St. Joseph to three-straight games when it welcomes the Lions to Justin F. Coressel Stadium on Saturday at 1:30 pm.
SCOUTING DEFIANCE - Defiance enters play on Saturday ranked third in the conference by allowing only 151.5 rushing yards per outing. Andrew Leverenz has anchored that attack all season and currently leads the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, while ranking sixth in the nation with 14.0 tackles for a loss.
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. JOSEPH - The Mount leads the league with 280.2 rushing yards per game and ranks last with only 56.6 yards through the air per outing. Running back James Clay has led the way, topping all NCAA Division III performers with 218.0 rushing yards per game.
LAST MEETING - The Jackets were outgained by a 371-271 margin in Cincinnati on October 8 of 2011 and gave up 278 yards on the ground but a trio of DC interceptions helped erase those deficits and key touchdown returns from Tony Sierra and Gregg Pickett vaulted Defiance to the 23-13 victory. Hunter Robertson also excelled with 10 tackles, while Josh Slayton had seven stops and D.J. Brigham picked up one sack.
SERIES HISTORY - DC has won 11 times in 20 all-time matchups on the gridiron with Mount St. Joseph. The series has slanted the way of the Jackets in recent years, with Defiance topping the Lions in two straight and three of the last four meetings. All four contests have been tight however, with the spread being within 10 points in each outing and no team scoring more than 24 points.
LAST TIME OUT - Defiance and Manchester hooked up in a wild affair last Saturday, combining for eight turnovers and 62 points on the scoreboard. The teams entered the half tied at 21, before Manchester found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory. DC rushed for 211 yards in the loss, marking its third performance with at least 200 yards on the ground in four league outings. Trevon Burrell led the way with 132 yards, while Drew Feldhaus anchored the defense in his first collegiate start with six tackles, one sack, two hits for lost yardage, one fumble recovery and one interception.
AROUND THE HCAC - A pair of matchups highlight the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday, with Mount St. Joseph (1-3) traveling to Defiance (2-2) and Bluffton (3-1) hosting Hanover (3-0). Franklin (3-0) and Manchester (2-2) will be heavy favorites against Anderson and Earlham, who are both winless on the season.
D-D-D-DEFIANCE - The Yellow Jackets currently tout the best defense in the HCAC by allowing only 317.0 yards per game this season. That league-leading number dips to 277.8 against conference foes, where the Jackets sit second in the conference by allowing only 21.0 points per outing.
LONG DISTANCE ATTACK - DC has been using big plays to find the end zone this season, with nine of its 17 touchdowns coming from outside of the red zone. The Jackets boast four touchdowns of over 50 yards and six of over 45 yards. For the season, Defiance has averaged 28.8 yards per touchdown play.
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS - Fans can choose from over 10,000 high-resolution photos of their favorite Yellow Jackets in action by visiting DC's online photo store at www.DefianceAthletics.com/galleries. Proceeds from the site help to support Defiance College.
BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS - The installation of the new bleachers has been completed inside the Karl H. Weaner Community Center and fans can now purchase season tickets for the section with seat backs. The section contains 78 seats and its located at mid-court behind the scorer's table. For more information, call 419-782-2342, or stay tuned to www.DefianceAthletics.com for future announcements.
ONLINE WEBCASTS AND REPLAYS - Defiance College would like to thank Hubbard Company, Mark Moats Ford and The Plaza Motel for their support of the Yellow Jacket Sports Network in 2012. Each of DC's five home football games in 2012, along with the road games at Adrian and Bluffton will be broadcast live at www.DefianceAthletics.com/video. Past broadcasts will also be archived and available at that link. Broadcasts will also be replayed all season long by DCTV5 on Tuesday's and Friday's at 9:00 pm and by Bryan City Cable channel 3 on Tuesday and Thursday's at 9:00 pm.