Yellow Jackets Rally for 31-28 Win at Hanover

HANOVER, Ind. – Defiance rattled off 21-unanswered points and rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to complete a 31-28 overtime victory at Hanover on Saturday. The win was DC's fourth straight over the Panthers and marked the 350th win in the history of the program.

Despite ending with 31 points in the come-from-behind victory, the Yellow Jackets did not dent the scoreboard until the closing seconds of the third quarter. Trailing 10-0 with the final quarter approaching, Rick Powell connected on a 39-yard pass to Jarrett Ensign for the score with three seconds left in the period.

Hanover countered DC's first score of the afternoon by reaching the end zone on its first drive of the fourth quarter. The score pushed the spread back to 10 points for the Panthers, but was immediately answered by the Purple and Gold.

Dustin Supan took the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Hanover 21-yard line and had the ball eventually marked at the 11 after a 10-yard face mask penalty was tacked onto the end of the play. Drew Kuesel then got the Jackets back to within three points with an 11-yard run on the first snap of the drive. The quick strike was the first of three unanswered touchdowns by Defiance that flipped a 17-7 deficit into a 28-17 advantage with just over three minutes left in the game.

Powell continued the rally when he connected on another long touchdown, this time hitting Joe Lane for a 50-yard score to put DC in front, 21-17. The lead then swelled to 28-17 when Kyle Longsdorf picked off a Hanover pass attempt and returned it 20 yards to pay dirt with 3:14 showing on the clock. Longsdorf's interception return capped a 21-0 fourth-quarter rally for the Yellow Jackets.

The host Panthers would not be outdone however, and completed a frantic comeback of their own in the game's closing minutes. A Hanover touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:01 left in the game drew the Panthers within 28-25.

HC then recovered the ensuing onside kick to set up a game-tying 30-yard field goal as time expired. The successful boot tied the score at 28-28 and sent the game into overtime.

The Jackets started the overtime session with the ball and grabbed the 31-28 advantage after Tom Foos split the uprights from 38 yards out.

Hanover then took its chance and seemed poised to pull out the victory, after marching to the Defiance one-yard line and setting up a first and goal. DC's defense would not give in however, as it pinned its ears back and came up with a pair of goal line stands before an incomplete pass brought out the HC field goal unit. The potential game-tying 17-yard field goal sailed wide right and sealed the thrilling, 31-28, win for Defiance.

Powell led the comeback for Defiance, connecting on 16-of-29 passes for 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Ensign caught seven of those completions for 76 yards and a score and Joe Lane hauled in three catches for 68 yards and a touchdown

The ground game churned out at least 150 yards for the third time in as many games, as Kuesel, Powell and Lewis Caralla carried the rock 42 times for 150 yards.

Keith Snyder led the defense once again, posting a team-high 12 tackles and Longsdorf added eight solo hits to go with his interception and touchdown return. Matt King tacked on seven tackles with 2.5 coming for lost yardage.

Defiance climbs to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the HCAC with the win and will be gunning for its third-straight win when it hosts Mount St. Joseph (5-3, 3-3 HCAC) on Nov. 8 at 1:00 pm. The game will be the final home contest for DC in the 2008 campaign.