BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - Tiffin (1-3, 0-3) tied the game at 21 in the third quarter, but Ferris State (3-1, 3-0) scored 17 straight points en route to a 52-28 win Saturday night at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich.
Quarterback Jason Young led the Dragons, connecting on 21 of 41 passes for a quartet of touchdowns. Seven different receivers caught passes for TU, led by Trey Williams with eight catches for 69 yards. Brendton Williams added three receptions for 71 yards, highlighted by a 50-yard catch near the end of the first half.
Kody David led the Tiffin defense with 11 tackles while Joseph Collard forced and recovered a fumble.
Leading Ferris State, Tom Schneider connected on 13 of 16 passes for four touchdowns of his own. Skyler Stoker ran for 106 yards on 12 carries while Chris Wilson grabbed four passes, two of which went for touchdowns. Matt Ryan had a game-high 12 tackles for the Bulldog defense.
The Dragons took the opening kickoff and drove down using more than half of the time on the clock in the opening stanza. Starting from the TU 24, Young found a trio of different receivers to reach the 50 yard line. After a pair of short runs by David McKnight, Young completed a pair of passes to Trey Williams to reach the Ferris State 20 yard line. A six-yard run and seven-yard reception by Taurean Nicholson put Tiffin on second and three at the FS 7. A pair of runs by McKnight netted two yards and forced a fourth-down decision for Tiffin head coach David Walkosky.
As Walkosky has done three previous times this season, he chose to go for the first down. And for the fourth time, the Dragons converted, thanks to a two-yard run by McKnight. After a four-yard loss and an incomplete pass, Young found Trey Williams in the corner of the end zone for the exclamation point, using up 7:42 of the clock on the game's initial drive. However, Mike Rutkowski's kick was missed and Tiffin had a 6-0 lead.
The home team answered on its initial drive of the game, going 88 yards down the field to take an early 7-6 lead. On first and goal from the 10, Thomas found the end zone with a pair of runs. The first quarter came to a close with the Bulldogs leading by one.
Ferris State took a 14-6 lead on its initial drive of the second quarter when Schneider found Kevin Guirand for a one-yard score with 11:28 remaining in the first half.
Tiffin would not go quietly into the half, adding 12 unanswered points of its own to take an 18-14 lead. On TU's initial drive of the second quarter, Singleton returned the kickoff 42 yard to the FS 45. Four plays later from the 10, Young found Singleton for 10 yards to bring TU within a pair. However, the two-point conversion pass attempt fell short.
After a TU stop on the next Ferris State possession, Tiffin took a quick 18-14 lead. Starting on its own 49, Tiffin gained one yard in two plays to face a third and nine at midfield. Young hooked up with Brendton Williams on a deep out pass for 50 yards and the Dragon touchdown. The conversion rush attempt failed and Tiffin led by four with 1:27 remaining in the half.
Ferris State answered right before half to wrestle the lead back from TU. On first down from its own 26, Schneider scrambled 24 yards to reach midfield. After a 23-yard pass play, Schneider found Wilson for the 27-yard score and the sixth touchdown between the two teams in the first half. But the Bulldogs had a 21-18 lead into intermission thanks to a trio of extra points.
Tiffin bounced back in the second half to knot the game at 21. FS started with the ball to begin the half, but a costly fumble forced and recovered by TU's Collard at the Ferris State 26 set up a Rutkowski 25-yard field goal to tie the game.
The Bulldogs took control of the game with 17 straight points at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth. Tiffin did manage to cut the deficit to 38-28 thanks to an 86-yard drive orchestrated by Young. On second and goal from the two, young found Bryce Wilder to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 10 with 13:42 remaining. Ferris State added 14 points to end the game for the final 24-point spread.
Tiffin returns to action next week when it hosts top-ranked NCAA Division II opponent Grand Valley. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
