Records were falling left and right during Tiffin University's regular season finale against Northern Michigan, as the Dragons posted their biggest margin of victory over a GLIAC for with a 56-7 win.
The Dragons, who improved to 8-3, 7-3 GLIAC and secured 2nd place in the GLIAC South for their highest finish ever, did almost everything they wanted offensively in the game. Wide receiver Charles Holland set a new single game TU and GLIAC record with 20 receptions, totaling 211 yards. The total is the fifth highest single game yardage total for a receiver in TU history. He also became just the fourth TU receiver to eclipse 1000 yards receiving in a season, as he now has 1129 yards. It is the 4th highest single season total in school history.
But it was senior Antonio Pipkin, playing in his final game as a Dragon, who made jaws drop, as he totaled 497 yards of total offense with 7 touchdowns (5 passing, 2 rushing). He rushed for 205 yards on 11 carries (18.6 yards per rush) while passing for 292 yards on 27 of 29 passing with no interceptions and no sacks. He shattered the GLIAC career passing mark, totaling 9671 yards to eclipse the 9546 of Jonathan Jennings of Saginaw Valley State.
There was little drama in the game, as the Dragons jumped out to a 42-0 halftime lead and ultimately scored the game's first 49 points. TU scored 21 points in the first quarter, with Holland opening the scoring on a 4 yard reception from Pipkin at 9:19. Jordan Nobles then grabbed a 1 yard pass at 7:31 to make it 14-0, and Jerry Brown ran in from 2 yards out at 3:24 to make it 21-0.
TU, which scored touchdowns on 8 of their first 10 possessions, continued the dominance in the second quarter. Holland caught a 49 yard bomb from Pipkin to open the big-play part of the show. Pipkin then broke free for a 73 yard TD scamper, and then finished scoring in the half by hitting Holland on a 33 yard TD pass to make it 42-0 at the break.
Pipkin got his second touchdown run to start the scoring in the third quarter, this time from 13 yards out with a hurdle over a defender to get into the end zone. TU finished their scoring early in the fourth quarter when Nobles caught an 8 yard pass from Pipkin to cap a 77 yard drive.
TU completely dominated the stat sheet, amassing 26 first downs to NMU's 12. They outgained the Wildcats 609-212, including a balanced attack of 313 yards rushing (8.2 per carry) and 296 through the air. The defense picked off 2 passes and totaled 4 sacks while holding NMU to 170 yards beneath their passing per game average with just 71 yards through the air.
Davon Johnson also had 52 yards receiving while Owen Courtright averaged 42.5 yards per punt and placed 2 of his 4 punts inside the 20, helping the defense out by keeping NMU pinned in their end.
Defensively Carrington Contee had 12 tackles with 10 solo stops, while Jacob Mertus had 8 tackles. Willie Mays had 6 tackles with 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss while DJ Steward also had 6 stops. Austin Jasper and Charles Cole had sacks while Terry Harper also had a half sack. Shawn Scott and Ross Moore had interceptions while TU also had 7 breakups.