CANTON - Tiffin University football coach Gary Goff said the "football gods may have been smiling down" on Malone Saturday in Canton.
Tiffin rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, only to see Malone win the game in double overtime, 33-27.
With the game tied at 27 after one overtime, TU's Seth Pekoe had a 35-yard field goal blocked. Moments later, Malone running back Malik Felton, who gashed the Dragons for 130 yards Saturday, ran the ball 12 yards for a game-clinching touchdown.
It was Tiffin's second loss to Malone at Fawcett Stadium in as many years. Both came in overtime.
While he credited Malone's play ("Hats off to Malone") in the win, Goff said the Pioneers got a little bit lucky in the first overtime. The Dragons won the overtime toss and elected to go on defense. Malone drove the ball to the TU 5 before being forced to attempt a field goal. Kicker Jake Hardy's 27-yard field goal hit the upright of the goal post and went through, giving Malone a 27-24 edge.
On the Dragons' ensuing possession, they drove to the Malone 6 before settling for a Pekoe field goal to send things to another OT.
Fact Box
| Malone 33, Tiffin 27 | ||||
| Tiffin | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 3 — 27 |
| Malone | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 9 — 33 |
| First Quarter | ||||
| MU — Jake Hardy 35 field goal, 11:12 | ||||
| TU — Pedro Correa 16 pass from James Capello (Seth Pekoe kick), 7:07 | ||||
| MU — Malik Felton 2 run (Hardy kick), 2:35 | ||||
| Second Quarter | ||||
| TU — Obadiah Dykes 32 pass from Capello (Pekoe kick), 1:43 | ||||
| Third Quarter | ||||
| MU — Justin McLean 25 pass from Truman Franklin (Hardy kick), 5:17 | ||||
| Fourth Quarter | ||||
| MU — Felton 16 pass from Franklin (Hardy kick), 11:27 | ||||
| TU — Tyler Jones 16 pass from Dan Pitts (Pekoe kick), 2:52 | ||||
| TU — Pekoe 34 field goal, :06 | ||||
| Overtime | ||||
| MU — Hardy 27 field goal | ||||
| TU — Pekoe 24 field goal | ||||
| MU — Felton 12 run | ||||
| TU | MU | |||
| First Downs | 21 | 28 | ||
| Rushes-yards | 39-103 | 54-289 | ||
| Passing yards | 277 | 190 | ||
| Comp-att-int | 27-40-2 | 16-25-1 | ||
| Punts-ave. | 1-34 | 2-9.5 | ||
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 3-2 | ||
| Penalties-yards | 8-66 | 6-62 | ||
| Individual Statistics | ||||
| RUSHING: Tiffin — Dominique White 16-58; James Hall 10-27; Pitts 7-1; Capello 5-18; Taurean Nicholson 1-(minus 1). Malone — Felton 22-130; Steven Niewiedzial 8-29; Will Szpor 6-27; McLean 6-24; Franklin 5-57; Reggie Terrell 4-9; Ronnie Bears 3-13. | ||||
| PASSING: Tiffin — Capello 17-24-2-183; Pitts 9-15-0-85; Jones 1-1-0-9. Malone — Franklin 9-14-0-90; Szpor 7-11-1-100. | ||||
| RECEIVING: Tiffin — Marcus Beaurem 5-22; Dykes 4-69; Jeremy Armstrong 4-53; Jones 4-33; Jeremy Ortiz 2-26; Hall 2-21; Bertram Marks 2-18; Correa 1-16; Tyrone Howard 1-14; Mark Rogers 1-3; White 1-2. Malone — AT Turner 5-66; McLean 4-54; Felton 2-28; Drew Bond 2-27; Marc Metezler 1-9; Tyler Billie 1-6; Niewiedzial 1-0. |
It was the fourth straight loss for TU, which also lost its starting quarterback, James Capello to what Goff called a "vicious shot" in the fourth quarter.
The coach said he had "no idea" on Capello's status. Dan Pitts took over, and led the fourth-quarter comeback, finding Tyler Jones on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2:52 left in regulation to cut Malone's lead to 24-21, then piloting a seven-pay, 47-yard drive in the final minute of the fourth quarter that led to a 34-yard Pekoe field goal that sent the game to overtime.
"We're proud of that," Goff said. "I think Capello [also] had a nice game, the offensive line did their part as well."
Capello completed 17 of 24 passes for 183 yards. He threw two touchdowns, was intercepted twice and wasn't sacked. Pitts went 9 of 15 for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Capello threw touchdown passes to Obadiah Dykes (32 yards) and Pedro Correa (16 yards).
Malone ran for 289 yards on TU.
"I think we had a little bit of trouble stopping their option game," Goff said.
Malone improved to 1-4.
TU volleyball swept by Lakers
Betsy Ronda had 10 kills, leading Grand Valley State to a 25-16, 25-13, 25-10 victory over Tiffin University Saturday at the Gillmor Center.
Jordan Jenkins had 20 kills for the Dragons, who fell to 4-9, 0-7 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Columbian graduate Rachel Reamer had five digs for the Dragons, while Mohawk grad Maureen Kurtz had three kills.
The Lakers upped their record to 11-4, 4-3.
Kindall leads HU cross country
CEDARVILLE - Heidelberg's David Kindall led the men's cross country team to a 12th place finish out of 22 teams at the All Ohio Championships.
Kindall finished ninth in 25:58.
HU's women were led by Sophie Goobic, who finished 40th in 19:43. The team finished 15th.
Marietta shuts out Princes in OAC opener
MARIETTA - Brandon Siringer, Lucas Eick and Jared Abston each scored a goal for Marietta, and the Pioneers shut out Heidelberg's men's soccer team in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both teams, 3-0.
Marietta outshot Heidelberg only 17-15, but improved to 4-5, 1-0. Heidelberg fell to 5-5, 0-1.
Matthew Stevens had six saves for Heidelberg.
HU women shut out
MARIETTA - Marietta's Stacy Smith scored the game's only goal, as the Pioneers shut down Heidelberg's women's soccer team, 1-0.
The Student Princes (1-7, 0-1) got 11 saves from goalkeeper Julie Cross.
Marietta improved to 3-6, 1-0.
'Berg volleyball's OAC streak snapped
Heidelberg's volleyball team came into Friday night's Ohio Athletic Conference match with Marietta ranked No. 23 in Division III. It also came in winners of 21 consecutive OAC matches.
That streak ended Friday night, as the Pioneers swept Heidelberg 25-23, 25-23, 25-21.
Marietta's Paige DeVriendt led the Pioneers (13-4, 2-0) with 13 kills, while teammate Laura Mauer had 32 assists.
Heidelberg (13-6, 2-1) was led by Marian Bevington's nine kills, and Rachel Ferguson's 18 assists. Teammate Alexa Frank, a Calvert graduate, had 10 assists in the loss.
