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The Malone University football team kicked off its 2013 campaign on Saturday afternoon with a 37-31 loss on the road to Notre Dame College.  The Pioneers had pulled in front 31-23 midway through the third quarter when quarterback Will Szpor connected with tight end Drew Bond on a three-yard touchdown pass.  However, the Falcons, playing their first game at their new on-campus field, managed to rally back, outscoring Malone 14-0 in the fourth quarter en route to the six-point victory.
    
After NDC opened the scoring with a first-quarter field goal, Szpor put Malone in front 7-3, capping a nine-play, 74-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.  The Falcons responded with a long drive of their own as NDC running back Pedro Powell crossed the goal line on a two-yard run to conclude a 13-play, 58-yard drive and give the Falcons a 9-7 lead (extra point attempt was blocked).

The Pioneers regained the advantage minutes later as a 21-yard run by Szpor and a 38-yard dash by running back Bryce Pratt helped set up Malone's next score – a three-yard TD plunge by running back Justin Davis that put Malone ahead 14-9 with 8:38 left to play in the first half.

Defensive lineman Brock Lundeen then brought the ensuing Notre Dame drive to a screeching halt after forcing and recovering a Falcon fumble deep inside Malone territory.  The Pioneers then cashed in on the turnover as kicker Jacob Bishop's 44-yard field goal hit the cross bar and bounced over to give the visitors a 17-9 advantage.  NDC then capped the first-half scoring with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter when quarterback Ray Russ fired a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide out DaJunn Graham, trimming the Pioneer lead to 17-16 at the half.

Malone's defense forced a three-and-out on the Falcons' first drive of the second half and the special teams then came up big as linebacker Philip Fisher blocked an NDC punt, scooped up the ball at the Notre Dame 27-yard line and then raced to the house for a touchdown to make the score 24-16.

The Falcons managed to regroup from the big play on their next drive as they marched 55 yards on seven plays, culminating with another two-yard TD run by Powell.  Following a NDC personal foul penalty on the ensuing kickoff, Malone responded with another touchdown drive of over 50 yards, pulling in front 31-23 on Szpor's three-yard TD toss to Bond.

The Pioneer defense came up with a big goal-line stand to stop Notre Dame's next possession at the Malone one-yard line.  The visitors then moved the ball into Falcon territory, hoping to add to their eight-point advantage.  The Falcons managed to slow down the Pioneers just outside of field goal range, forcing a punt that gave the ball back to NDC with just under 14 minutes remaining on the clock.  The Falcons quickly pulled to within 31-29 on a 58-yard touchdown throw from Russ to halfback Jack Foy (two-point conversion failed).

A critical illegal block penalty short-circuited the Pioneers next drive and, following a Malone punt, Notre Dame grabbed a 35-31 advantage by engineering a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended when Russ dove across the goal line from a yard out.  The junior signal caller would then connect with wide receiver Mitchell Shegos for a two-point conversion to give Notre Dame a 37-31 lead with 6:12 showing on the fourth-quarter clock. 

Malone would have three more possessions before the end of the game, but the NDC defense managed to step up, stopping the Pioneers' final three drives on a punt, an interception, and on downs.

Malone tallied 204 yards on the ground over the course of the afternoon, its highest rushing total since notching 289 in last season's double-overtime win against Tiffin.  The Pioneers also posted 124 yards through the air for a total output of 328 yards.  Overall, Notre Dame posted 508 total yards of offense with 168 yards rushing and 340 passing.  Each team committed eight penalties, surrendered one turnover and had almost identical time of possession (30:36 for NDC, 29:24 for MU).

Szpor completed 14 of his 28 passes for 124 yards with one touchdown and one interception.  Pratt picked up 120 rushing yards on 23 carries, giving the Pioneers their first 100-yard rushing performance since Malik Felton picked up 130 yards in last year's win over Tiffin.  Davis picked up 41 yards rushing on nine carries with a touchdown while also snagging three catches for 23 yards.

Wide receiver Josh McLaughlin pulled in five catches for 24 yards.  Fellow wide out Jordan Phillips posted three catches for 39 yards to go with an average of 23 yards on seven kickoff returns (161 yards total).

Defensive back Demarco Donaldson led the way for the Pioneer defense with 14 tackles, two forced fumbles and a pass break-up.  Fellow defensive back Brandon Commodore added 11 tackles.  Linebacker Dan Mower followed with nine stops while defensive back Lucas Haupt posted eight tackles. Defensive backs Lloyd Phillips, Glen Raphael,and Lepear Smith each added seven tackles.

For NDC, Russ completed 27 of 38 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns.  Powell totaled 150 yards on 36 carries with two scores.  Foy pulled in 10 catches for 143 yards and a TD.  Bo Grunder paced the Falcon defense with 16 tackles.

Malone will look to bounce back next Saturday when it opens Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Saginaw Valley State (MI) University, the squad ranked at #22 in the AFCA Division II Preseason National Poll. Pioneer fans can listen to all of the action on the Malone Sports Network (on the radio at ESPN 990 AM and streaming on the internet at www.espn990.com).