Tiffin University (1-1) used a punishing offense and a stifling defense to blitz the Lake Erie Storm 58-7 for their first win of the season.
The Dragons wasted no time in setting the tone, as Dontrael Brown took the opening kickoff and raced 70 yards downfield to give TU their first possession on the LE 30 yard line.
Four plays later, Hunter Rockwell rushed into the end zone from 24 yards out to put TU up 6-0. It was the first of 4 touchdowns by Rockwell on the day.
Tiffin got the ball back quickly after the Dragons defense came up strong, establishing a running theme for the first half. TU put together a 75 yard drive highlighted by 7 rushing plays out of 9 executed before Rockwell rushed in from 17 yards out to make it 13-0 with 5:46 to play in the opening quarter.
After two consecutive three-and-outs engineered by TU's stingy defense, the Dragons got the ball and booted a 26 yard field goal by Joe Metcalf to open scoring in the second quarter.
Charles Holland then got in on the scoring action, as TU got touchdowns on their next two possessions through the air. Nick Watson hit Holland on a 31 yard pass at 11:02 of the second quarter to make it 23-0, then turned around and hit him again on a 56 yard bomb with 6:06 to play to push TU's lead to 30-0.
An electric 32 yard interception return by Delan Wynn set up TU's final score of the half, as Watson dashed in from 1 yard out to make it 37-0 Tiffin at the break.
The Dragons' complete dominance was seen in the halftime stats. They held a 19-3 edge in first downs including 283-11 in total offense. The Storm managed -14 yards on the ground and had allowed 3 sacks for loss of 26 yards. Holland already had 124 yards receiving at the break, while Rockwell had 67 yards on the ground along with 49 yards rushing by JaQuan Hardy.
The Storm finally got on the board midway through the third quarter on a 49 yard run, but the Dragons answered immediately with a 9 play, 66 yard drive that ended with a 12 yard TD run by Rockwell at the 3:51 mark to make it 44-7. The drive was highlighted by a big 27 yard pass play from Watson to Victor Talley on 3rd and 15 to keep the drive alive.
TU got another TD from Rockwell early in the fourth quarter, as he rushed in from 13 yards out on 3rd and 4 to make it 51-7.
Tiffin's final score came after a 9 play, 80 yard drive that ate up nearly 6 minutes before Troy Clay rushed in from 1 yard out at 2:37 to make it 58-7.
Overall TU held a massive 32-8 edge in first downs. They held the Storm to just 120 yards of offense while racking up 443 yards, including 231 on the ground.
Tiffin's defense had a field day, holding Lake Erie to just 43 yards rushing while also posting 5 sacks, an interception, and 13 tackles for loss. Brandon Burks had 6 tackles with a sack and 2 tackles for loss, while AJ Wright had 5 tackles with a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Jawan Nelson, Austin Jasper, and Charlie Cleveland also had sacks. Vinny Jones had 6 tackles as did Carrington Contee.
Holland led the offense with 150 yards receiving and 2 TDs, while Hardy finished with 95 yards rushing on 20 carries and Rockwell had 92 yards on just 9 carries with 4 TDs.
Watson finished with 198 yards receiving on 14 of 21 passing with 0 interceptions, while Victor Talley had 3 catches for 44 yards.
Kicker Joe Metcalf also accounted for 10 points on a 26 yard field goal and 7 PATs.