Cincinnati, Ohio—The Mount St. Joseph University Lions played host to the Yellow Jackets of Defiance College on Saturday. This game saw two teams coming off of their first wins of the season battling to get the second mark in the win column. In the game the Lions were able to come away with a 41-21 win. While the score seems lopsided this game was very competitive before the Mount was able to pull away in the second half.
The first half saw the Lions get off to a slow start. Defiance took the ball to start the game and was able to put together an 8 play 71 yard touchdown and added a two point conversion to take an early 8-0 lead. The Yellow Jacket defense followed their score with a quick 3 and out. Then the Lions defense forced a stop that netted the offense great starting field position. In the second drive of the game for the Mount, they drove ball 47 yards in just 5 plays ending in a Josh Taylor passing touchdown to Chase Samples, following the score the Lions went for two and failed, leaving the team trailing 8-6. Early in the 2nd quarter the Lions were pinned on their own one yard line to start a drive thanks to a series of penalties, however the offense was able to put together a 9 play 99 yard touchdown drive. Kyle Proffitt was the signal caller for the Lions on this drive and was able to have two huge passes to Austin Brock for 19 yards and a 32 yard touchdown followed by a good 2 point conversion. This gave the Lions the lead for the first time on the afternoon. Defiance quickly responded with a touchdown of their own knotting the game back up 14-14. Late in the first half Troy Speakman was able to get an interception and return it to the Defiance 2 yard line. The Lions got stuffed on their attempts to punch the ball into the end-zone, forcing the Lions Kicker Kyle Farfsing to attempt a short field goal. This gave the Lions a 17-14 lead, this also was the final lead change of the game.
To open the second half the Lions offense took the ball, but was unable to get the ball moving. However the Mount defense was able force another stop and the Lions offense finally found their grove. Taylor was able to extend a play and find wide open Jake Ayer for a 69 yard touchdown extending the Lions lead to 24-14. The defense had also gotten in a grove by this point forcing another three and out that saw the pair of freshman defensive linemen Matthew Briedis II and Decklan Brophy share a third down sack. In the following drive the Lions put together an 11 play 29 yard drive that resulted in a 38 yard Farfsing field goal. A few drives later the Lions got help from their special teams as Speakman retuned a Defiance punt 55 yards for another touchdown giving them a commanding 34-14 lead. The fourth quarter saw the Lions score one more time off of a 12 play 66 yard drive that ended in another Taylor touchdown pass to Joey Newton. This score sealed the 41-21 victory.
The Defense was the backbone of this win for the Lions, as they forced 2 turnovers and 4 sacks on the afternoon. Senior Linebacker Julius Fisher led the defense in tackling with 14 total tackles, including 2 tackles for a loss. Rashun Newbolt, Noah Hammond and Alex McQueen each registered a sack for the Lions. Troy Speakman had an impressive game with an interception and a punt return touchdown, totaling 119 return yards for the game. Freshman defensive back Noah Durman came away with his first career interception as well on the afternoon.
The Mount Offense put together a strong statistical performance, throwing the ball for 395 yards and 4 touchdowns while gaining 111 yards on the ground. Both Lions quarterbacks were able to account for at least one passing touchdown as Proffitt went 11-21 passing with 175 yards and a touchdown. Taylor went 14-28 with 220 yards and 3 passing touchdowns while also leading the Lions rushing attack with 89 yards. Brock led all receivers in yards with 7 receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. Additionally the pair of Newton and Ayler had impressive games, Newton racked up 89 yards off of 6 receptions while Ayler had 3 catches for 84 yards each also having one touchdown.
The Lions look to improve off of their performance next Saturday when they host Bluffton. This game is set for Saturday, April 3 with kickoff at 1:30PM at Schueler Field. For a preview of this upcoming HCAC showdown and coverage of all MSJ sports continue to follow msjlions.com
