Box Score
Lions' junior kicker Shane Kelly (Cincinnati, OH/Turpin) connected on a 24-yard field goal with time expiring to give the Mount St. Joseph University Lions a 24-21 win at Defiance College on Saturday. The victory in the HCAC opener for both teams, improves the Mount's season record to 2-1 overall, 1-0 in the conference, while Defiance slips to 0-3, 0-1. The Lions return to action on Sept. 27 when they host HCAC-foe Manchester College at 1:30 p.m.
The Mount jumped out to a 10-7 lead at the half, thanks to a Kelly 17-yard field goal and a 1-yard TD run by Denzel Norvell (Dayton, OH/Thurgood Marshall) - and Kelly PAT. Defiance scored their lone points of the first half on a one-yard TD plunge, and PAT kick, with 5:23 left in the second quarter. Kelly would add three more points, on a 45-yard field goal, at the 12:54 mark of the third quarter, giving his team a 13-7 lead, but the Yellow Jackets would roar back after recovering a Mount fumble at the Lions' 18-yard line. Defiance would score on the next play following the turnover, gaining their first lead of the game, 14-13. The home team would push its lead out to eight points, 21-13, with just under 1 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, scoring on a two-yard TD run.
The fourth quarter scoring belonged solely to the Lions, as the Mount struck for a TD on an 21-yard pass play from Greg Simpson to Leonard Riston (Cincinnati, OH/Withrow). Riston's two-point coversion run knotted the score at 21-all with 2:11 left on the game clock. The Mount's defense stopped Defiance on the Yellow Jackets final possession of the game, as Tracy Fomby (Cincinnati, OH/Princeton) recorded a key interception on a third down pass play, returning the ball three yards to the Defiance 29-yard line, setting the stage for Kelly's heroics. Norvel converted a key, third-and-one from the DC 20-yard line, rushing for 16 yards before being brought down at the four-yard line. A rush for negative yards pushed the ball back to the Yellow Jackets seven-yard line, Kelly was brought for the game-winning attempt, which sailed through the uprights at 24 yards. Kelly finished with 10 points for the Mount.
Norvell led the way offensively rushing for a game-high 105 yards on 19 carries, and two receptions. Riston recorded a game-high eight receptions for 88 yards, while wide receiver mate John Peters (West Chester, OH/Lakota West) had six receptions for 92 yards. Simpson finished 20-for-40 for 208 yards passing. The Mount combined for 396 yards of total offense (269 yards passing and 127 yards rushing), along with garnering 23 first downs to Defiance's 19 first downs.
The Lions held Defiance to 14-of-34 passing and just 3.4 yards per rushing, forcing the Yellow Jackets into 10 punts, one sack, one interception and three-for-21 on third down. Jonathan Campbell (Cincinnati, OH/La Salle) and Anthony Berry (Cincinnati, OH/Withrow) paced the Mount's defense with 10 tackles each, as Campbell had three tackles for loss yards, one sack, and a forced fumble.
