It was a rough day at the office for the Dragons, as they traveled to Detroit to take on 16th-ranked Wayne State and were hit hard in a 55-0 shutout in their 2011 GLIAC opener.

Wayne State used a stifling defense to corral the Dragons, allowing a total of just 181 yards of offense in the game. Utilizing a balanced offensive attack and following strong senior leadership, the Warriors racked up 465 offensive yards, including 285 yards on the ground. Josh Renel led the Warriors attack with 107 yards on 20 carries.


The Dragons tried to get their passing game going and started the game with their finest drive of the day, moving around 60 yards before the drive stalled deep in Wayne State territory.

Tiffin held excellent field position throughout the first quarter, which ended with Wayne State up only 7-0 after a long 53 yard touchdown pass with 1:17 left in the quarter.

Despite TU's good field position, the Warriors' defense did not allow a score. The two teams continued to play relatively close to each other, with Wayne State tacking on another score on a 28 yard TD pass but the game took a turn for the worse for TU late in the second quarter.

The Warriors started to wear down TU, adding two touchdowns in the final 5:00 to jump out to a 28-0 halftime lead.

Looking to turn the tide in the second half, the Dragons got off on the wrong foot as Wayne State returned the opening kickoff 87 yards to make it 35-0. The Warriors added two more scores before the end of the third quarter and another in the fourth to win the game going away.

James Capello had a solid day but could not connect on any big plays, completing 22 of 37 passes for 148 yards and only one interception. The Warriors also got to Capello for 5 sacks.

The Warriors exerted constant pressure, battering through the offensive line and holding TU to just 33 yards on the ground. TU was also held to just 4 of 14 third-down conversions. Overall Wayne State had 27 first downs to Tiffin's 12.

Kody David once again led the Dragons with 7 tackles, while Mike Virgin and Logan Kaminski added 6 tackles apiece.