Box Score
The Malone University football team pulled out a thrilling 33-27 double-overtime victory in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match-up with Tiffin University on Saturday afternoon at Fawcett Stadium.
In many ways, Saturday's contest mirrored the 2011 season-opening meeting between the Pioneers and Dragons in which Malone notched a 40-34 victory. Both games were played at Fawcett Stadium. Both games went to double-overtime. And both games were won on rushing TD's by Pioneer running back
Malik Felton. In 2011, it was a 14-yard dash off the right side of the offensive line that lifted MU to victory. This time around, it was a 12-yard scamper up the middle that sent a crowd of 2200 to its feet and gave the Malone football program its first-ever GLIAC win.
Felton, who finished the afternoon with a career-high 130 rushing yards on 22 carries, scored three touchdowns on the day – none bigger than his rushing TD on the last play of the game. The winning score was set up by the Pioneer defense which held the Dragons scoreless on TU's second possession of the overtime period.
With the game deadlocked at 27-27 after both teams had made field-goal attempts on their first possession of overtime, Tiffin started its second possession of OT at its own 25-yard line and moved the ball inside the Pioneer 10. Then, on second-and-six form the Malone 8, defensive lineman
Frank McCormick broke through the line and came up with his fourth sack of the game to push Tiffin back to the 17 and force a third-and-long pass attempt. The Dragons came up empty on the throw, settling for a 35-yard field-goal try. However, Tiffin was unable to convert as defensive lineman
Brock Lundeen reached up and blocked the kick, keeping the score at 27-27.
Knowing any method of scoring would seal a win, the Malone offense went to work, using runs of six and seven yards to set up Felton's dash across the goal line.
The Pioneers (1-3 overall, 1-3 GLIAC) faced a 14-10 deficit at halftime but then fought back to take the lead on a pair of touchdown throws by true freshman quarterback
Truman Franklin. Franklin, a 6'6 signal caller from Wetumpka, Alabama, saw his first collegiate playing time at the start of the third quarter as he engineered a 16-play, 87-yard scoring drive, putting Malone on top 17-14 by firing a 25-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver
Justin McLean.
Tiffin (1-4 overall, 0-4 GLIAC) moved deep into Malone territory on its next possession before defensive back
Logan Francis picked off a deep throw, giving the Pioneers the ball at their own 4-yard line. Franklin moved Malone to midfield with a nifty 44-yard run and then proceeded to lead the Pioneers the rest of the way down the field, capping a 13-play, 96-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Felton.
Trailing 24-14, Tiffin managed to rally back, registering 10 points in the final three minutes of the game. A blocked punt by TU linebacker Theron Carter got the Dragon rally started. Quarterback Dan Pitts, who entered the game in the early stages of the fourth quarter after an injury sidelined starter James Capello, then made the score 24-21 after connecting with wide receiver Tyler Jones on a 16-yard touchdown toss with 2:52 showing on the clock.
A personal foul penalty on the TD allowed the Dragons to attempt an on-side kick from the 50-yard line. Malone recovered the ball but was unable to run out the clock as a Felton rushing attempt on fourth-and-two from the TU 37 was spotted an eyelash shy of the first-down marker. Pitts then quickly moved Tiffin down the field.
Another personal foul call set the Dragons up with a first-and-ten on the Pioneer 12-yard line. However, with the clock winding down, Tiffin opted for a field goal and kicker Seth Pekoe drilled the 34-yard attempt through the uprights, sending the contest to overtime.
The two teams had traded scores back-and-forth throughout the first two quarters. Kicker
Jake Hardy capped off the Pioneers' opening drive with a 35-yard field goal. Tiffin answered back with a 16-yard TD pass from Capello to wide receiver Pedro Correa before Malone made it 10-7 on Felton's first touchdown run of the game, a two-yard plunge across the goal line with two and a half minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
Tiffin then wrapped up the first-half scoring with 1:43 to play in the second quarter when Capello concluded an eight-play, 81-yard drive with a 32-yard TD pass to wide receiver Obadiah Dykes.
In all, Malone racked up 479 yards, its highest total offensive output since posting 527 yards in its 2010 season finale against Olivet Nazarene (IL) University. Of the 479 yards, 190 were through the air and 289 were on the ground. The Dragons countered with 380 total yards, 277 passing and 103 rushing.
In addition to their advantage in yardage, the Pioneers also posted a season-high 28 first downs, converted 10 of 16 third downs and held over a six-minute edge in time of possession.
Franklin completed nine of 14 pass attempts on the afternoon for 90 yards. He also added 57 rushing yards on five attempts. Quarterback
Will Szpor played the first two quarters under center and connected on seven of 11 passes for 100 yards.
Wide receiver
AT Turner posted a game-high five catches for 66 yards. McLean added four receptions for 54 yards. Felton posted two catches for 28 yards to go with his big rushing total.
Linebacker
Antonio Scassa led the way for the Malone defense with a game-high 12 tackles. Safety
Demarco Donaldson added 11 stops. Lundeen posted nine tackles to go with the huge blocked field goal. McCormick wreaked havoc behind the line of scrimmage all afternoon, tallying seven tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Francis tallied five stops to go with his two interceptions.
For Tiffin, Capello completed 17 of 24 passes for 183 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Running back Dominique White tallied 58 rushing yards on 16 carries. Dykes pulled in four catches for 69 yards. Linebacker Keith Butts paced the Dragon defense with 11 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
Malone will be back in action on Saturday evening at Fawcett Stadium when it will compete as the road team in the annual rivalry game against cross-town foe Walsh University. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. Fans can catch all of the action on the
Malone Sports Network (radio broadcast on WNPQ 95.9 FM or streaming live audio on the internet at
www.thelight959.com).
Malone Notes: Felton's 130-yard performance on Saturday marked the first time a Malone player had rushed for 100 or more yards in a single game since
Daryon Mosley gained 104 yards in last year's season opener against Tiffin…The 2009 season finale at Olivet Nazarene (IL) marked the last time the Pioneers had posted at least 28 first downs in a game…McCormick tallied at least two or more sacks in two separate games last season (2.0 against Tiffin; 2.5 against Saint Francis)…Only three other times in the 20-year history of Pioneer football has a single player accounted for more than three sacks in game (Jason Wallick – 6.0, Cody Carroll – 4.5, Brian Landies – 3.5).