Tiffin University battled throughout the game but came up just short in a narrow 31-27 loss at Lake Erie, falling to 1-9, 0-9 in the GLIAC.
The Dragons and Storm played tough defense against each other throughout the first half before both teams turned up the offense in a back-and-forth second half that came down to the closing minutes of the game.
Lake Erie got on the board first, hitting a 60 yard touchdown pass at 5:22 of the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
Tiffin answered just before halftime when Brendton Williams hauled in a 7 yard TD pass from Jason Young, completing a 9 play, 79 yard drive with 2:08 to play in the half. Score at the half stood at 7-7.
Things started out well for the Dragons in the third quarter. Mike Rutkowski drilled two 30 yard field goals just minutes apart to give TU a 13-7 lead at the 10:50 mark. But Lake Erie bounced back, capping a 5 play, 81 yard drive with a 5 yard touchdown run to retake the lead at 14-13. They then kicked a 28 yard field goal at the 5:41 mark to take a 17-13 lead.
The Dragons next possession proved critical to the outcome of the game. The Dragons drove down the field, gaining a first and goal from the Lake Erie 1 yard line and appeared poised to retake the lead. But a personal foul and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved TU back to the Lake Erie 33 yard line, out of field goal range and giving the Dragons an uphill climb to put it in the end zone.
After failing on fourth down to score, the Dragons caught a break as Lake Erie was whistled for roughing the passer, giving TU a first down at the 15 yard line. But on the next play, Tiffin fumbled during a rush and Lake Erie recovered, a huge momentum shift that the Storm took advantage of by driving 79 yards in 8 plays and scoring at 12:24 of the fourth quarter to take a 24-13 lead.
The Dragons refused to die, however, as Trey Williams caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from Young and then caught the 2-point conversion pass to bring TU back to within three points at 24-21 with 8:40 to play.
Lake Erie did what it had to do, taking the next possession and breaking a big 40 yard touchdown run off at 4:15 of the fourth quarter to jump back ahead 31-21.
Tiffin's Young kept hopes alive, hooking up with Nate Scully on a 41 yard touchdown pass that figured to get the Dragons back to within three. But the extra point was missed, putting TU down 31-27 with 2:42 to play. Tiffin failed to recover the onside kick, and Lake Erie was able to run out the clock for the win.
Young led the Tiffin offense, which was outgained in total offense 485-328. Young accounted for 251 of those yards through the air on 20 of 28 passing with just 1 interception and 3 touchdowns. Trey Williams had 85 yards on 9 catches, while Jonathan Marquez also had 86 yards receiving on 5 catches.
Defensively Joseph Collard had 9 tackles, Bob Edwards had 9 tackles, A.J. Brewer had 8 tackles, and Logan Snell and Mike Virgin had 7 tackles each.
