Sept. 12, 2009

Final Stats

DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Adrian College football team went on the road and outplayed Defiance in all facets of the game claiming a 31-16 victory. The Bulldogs had a great deal of success through the air as Mike McGee threw for a career-high for the second week in a row. McGee threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns and the Adrian defense did the rest with 10 sacks while holding the Yellow Jackets to 234 total yards. The Jackets gained 124 of those yards on their final two drives which resulted in touchdowns against the second unit.

The Bulldogs went three-and-out on their first possession but took advantage of Defiance on their second drive. Adrian started on their own five-yard line and marched 95 yards in 11 plays. McGee completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to freshman D'ante Thompson for his first collegiate touchdown.

The Adrian defense came up with the game's next score as their pressure on the quarterback led to a big touchdown. Austin Karcher was sacked for a loss of 10 yards and lost the ball in the end zone. Bronson Gonzales was credited with the sack and Justin Judd jumped on the ball in the back of the end zone for his second touchdown of the season. Adrian led a 14-0 lead with 13:19 left in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs added to their lead on their next possession as they went 50 yards on six plays. Nick Hemmingsen had the big play on the drive with a 54-yard reception which took the ball to the Defiance three-yard line. Zach Scoville booted a 32-yard field goal from the left hash and with 8:33 left in the second it was 17-0.

Adrian put the finishing touches on a solid first half as they drove 55 yards in six plays capped off by a Eric Suttie 22-yard touchdown grab with 56 seconds left until the break giving AC a 24-0 lead heading into the locker room. Suttie had a career day with five catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Defiance broke into the scoresheet on Adrian's first possession of the second half. Adrian made a big play on defense on Defiance's first drive of the third quarter as Troy Bell fumbled at the two-yard line and it was recovered by Gino Panza. The Yellow Jackets dropped McGee in the end zone for a safety on the first play of AC's drive.

Adrian put the ball in the end zone later in the third quarter as it was a quick strike of 55 yards to Suttie from McGee which capped off a two-play, 73-yard drive to give AC a 31-2 lead with 7:31 left in the third. Adrian had 62 yards in the fourth quarter and Defiance gained 115 yards in the final frame also scoring their lone touchdowns of the game.

Adrian had 382 yards of offense and rushed for 64 yards on the afternoon. Defiance rushed for 80 yards and threw for 154 more to total 234 yards. Adrian committed 12 penalties for 130 yards but it did not hurt them in the end. The Bulldogs were 6-of-15 on third down and averaged 40.1 yards per punt.

Chris McGuire led the defense with 10 tackles and also had two sacks. Danny Taylor had another solid week with eight stops. Gonzales ended the contest with seven tackles, three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Adrian is now 1-1 on the year and have beaten the Yellow Jackets for three straight years.