TU routs Walsh 54-7

The Tiffin University Dragons dominated in all facets of the game in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference home win against Walsh on Saturday, 54-7.Tiffin coach Brett Ekkens was pleased with the outcome."We've worked really hard over the course of the offseason and the season to this point. It was good to see things come together," Coach Ekkens said. "It was good to see some guys that haven't gotten to play a lot get in there and make an impact."A poor punt by Walsh on its opening drive gave the Dragons their first possession at the Walsh's 30-yard line. The Cavaliers defense held though, and on fourth-and-3, Tiffin quarterback Alex Johnson's pass fell incomplete for a turnover on downs.The teams swapped punts until Tiffin got the ball back at the Cavalier 39. On third-and-2, Johnson threw to Joey Zalewski for a five-yard gain to move the sticks. Walsh's defense held strong again, and forced the Dragons to send out kicker Ben Rudolph—who knocked down a 39-yard field goal.It was Tiffin's lead, 3-0, at the end of the first quarter.After forcing the Cavaliers to punt on their next drive, Johnson threw a deep ball to Jaedyn McKinstry for a 57-yard pickup to the Walsh 11. Johnson then found Zalewski over the middle for a 6-yard touchdown pass. It was 10-0 in favor of the Dragons with 10:22 left in the first half.Tiffin got the ball back at their own 27-yard line, and Johnson connected with Javier Wills for a 23-yard reception. The next play, Johnson threw a deep pass across the field to Ethan Holbrook for a 49-yard TD pass. It was 17-0 Dragons halfway through the second quarter.Walsh showed some life when Dante Walker got the sticks moving with an 11-yard run to midfield. On fourth-and-1, the Cavaliers' Jake Gill advanced a couple yards to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Gill rushed left for a 37-yard score. Walsh kicker Jarrad Kerekes made the PAT to cut Tiffin's lead to 10 points, 17-7.The Dragons started with the worst field position they'd had to that point yet still rattled off a nine-play, 81-yard scoring drive. Tiffin's Johnson threw three straight completions to Holbrook, Emari White, and Wills for gains of 11, 10, and 11 yards respectively to get into Cavalier territory.Two plays later, Dragon running back Nick Johnson went around the left end for a 23-yard carry. A couple plays from then, Alex Johnson threw it up in the end zone for Joey Zalewski to bring down for the 20-yard TD catch.The Green & Gold went into halftime with a 24-7 lead.Tiffin received the ball to start the second half, and very quickly went down the field for a score. Johnson and Wills connected through the air again, this time for 14 yards and a first down. Two plays later, Alex Johnson threw across the field to Holbrook for a 59-yard TD. The Dragons took a 31-7 lead less than two minutes into the second half.Tiffin began their next possession at midfield. On third-and-3, Alex Johnson darted a pass to Holbrook for 11 yards. The next play, Johnson threw a short pass right to Zalewski—who took the ball 14 yards into the red zone. Ronald Blackman ran it in from there for a 19-yard TD run. Tiffin was up 38-7 with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter.On Walsh's next drive, Kerekes' punt was blocked by Ryan Konyecsni. The ball rolled into the end zone for a safety: Tiffin 40, Walsh 7.The Dragons next drive was thwarted when Johnson's pass was intercepted by the Cavaliers' Ty Miller. Tiffin got the ball back though when Walsh's Trey Martin was hit by Malik Baker, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Radical Rothermel. Two plays later though, Johnson was intercepted again—this time by the Cavaliers' Warren Bloodworth.The Dragons defense forced a punt, and then the offense went on a six-minute scoring drive. Alex Johnson threw to White for a 14-yard reception. On fourth-and-1, Tiffin kept the drive going when Johnson snuck it up the middle for two yards. A nine-yard pass from Johnson to Holbrook moved the chains on third-and-1. A couple plays later, White scored on an end around from seven yards out. The Dragons were up 47-7 midway through the fourth quarter.On the ensuing Walsh possession, Tiffin's Kyle Johnson intercepted Cole Norris' pass and returned it 18 yards to the Cavalier 12.Dragon QB Kyle Antoine threw to Hayden Bills in the end zone for a six-yard TD, and Rudolph's PAT capped the scoring.Tiffin (4-2 overall, 3-1 GMAC) threw for 405 yards and ran for 119 for 524 offensive yards.Alex Johnson was 26-for-36 passing for 399 yards, four TDs, and two INTs. Holbrook had six receptions for 147 yards and two TDs."I thought the passing game looked great," Coach Ekkens said. Ekkens stated that he was really pleased with how the offensive line protected—running backs included."Alex did a good job with ball placement today. So I was really, really pleased with him. Ethan's been a great target for us for two years now."Walsh (4-2, 2-2) had 94 yards on the ground and 86 through the air for 180 total yards.Connor Satterfield made 15 tackles for the Cavaliers.