Tiffin University (1-4, 1-3 GLIAC) wanted to make the most of its Homecoming game against Malone University (0-5, 0-4). After all, the Dragons had only been home once in the first month of the season, and the home fans were eager for a victory.
The Dragons got their victory, 34-30, the first time in the last three meetings that TU beat Malone after two overtime losses in the last two years. It just took a little longer than expected as TU had to weather two storms - the first a literal lightning storm that delayed the game 45 minutes before opening kickoff, the second a late surge by the Pioneers that brought them back from 18 points down with 5:24 left and brought them to within 4 points in the closing seconds.
Things started well for the Dragons, as they took their opening possession and drove 59 yards on 8 plays before Antonio Pipkin rushed in from 9 yards out at 11:39 to give TU a 7-0 lead.
Malone responded early in the second quarter, kicking a 22 yard field goal to make it 7-3. They then continued to build on their ground game, scoring with 4:20 left in the half on a one-yard run that capped a 90 yard drive and gave Malone a 10-7 lead.
TU bounced right back, however, with TU driving 55 yards and scoring with just 16 seconds left on another Pipkin rush, this time from one yard out to give TU a narrow 13-10 halftime lead.
Tiffin's defense, which bent for most of the day but never seemed to break, forced the first of two major turnovers early in the third quarter when Antonio Etter intercepted a Malone pass with 10:32 left in the quarter. TU took the ball and drove 72 yards on 12 plays, with Patrick Boggs banging into the end zone from 2 yards out at the 5:31 mark to give TU a 20-10 lead.
The Dragons duplicated the feat at the start of the fourth quarter when Brandon Person picked off another Malone pass, returning it to the TU 45 yard line. The Dragons made them pay at the 12:49 mark when Tony Shead hauled in a Pipkin pass from 7 yards out to give TU a solid 27-10 lead.
Malone bounced back with an 80 yard drive that ended in a 10 yard TD toss, narrowing the score to 27-16 with 7:00 left.
After recovering a Malone onside kick, the Dragons seemed to put the game away when Pipkin rushed for his third TD of the day, this time from 25 yards out at 5:24 to make the score 34-16.
Malone, however, drove 87 yards on 14 plays and scored on a one-yard run with 1:45 left to make it 34-24. The Dragons covered up the subsequent onside kick but failed to do much with it, running just four plays covering 9 yards and eating up just 23 seconds before Malone took over on downs. The Pioneers then moved 58 yards and scored on a 17 yard run with just 19 seconds left.
The Dragons then got the ball back after Malone touched the onside kick before it travelled the necessary 10 yards, allowing them to run the clock out.
Pipkin had an impressive day, accounting for 265 of TU's 314 yards of offense. He rushed for 72 yards on 10 carries, scoring 3 times, while passing for 193 yards on 18 of 28 passing and another TD. He also tossed just one interception and was not sacked on the day.
Marcus Beaurem had 62 yards receiving while Tyler Jones had 47 yards on 4 catches. The Dragons return tandem of Shead and Beaurem also averaged nearly 35 yards per kick return.
Defensively, a number of Dragons had big games, none bigger than Joseph Collard. Collard racked up 17 tackles with a half tackle for loss. Person also had 10 tackles with a pick. Justin Herrnstein had 9 tackles with one for loss, while Stefan Willis also had 8 tackles. Terry Harper had 8 tackles, Bryon McCorkle had 7 tackles with a sack, Jesse Stoudt and Kyle Yoder had 6 tackles, and Judes Amilcar had 5 tackles with a sack.
Overall Malone held big edges in total offense (529-314), first downs (33-18) and time of possession (35:17 to 24:43).
