Football’s 2021 fall schedule features six homes games, begins with Thursday night road contest

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The schedule is set as the Defiance College football team heads into its 2021 fall season. The upcoming campaign features 10 regular-season games, including six at home.

"Six home games! It's exciting for our region of northwest Ohio to be able to come to watch the Yellow Jackets that many times," Defiance head coach Manny Matsakis said. "We look forward to creating a new and exciting game-day atmosphere this fall."

This past spring, DC played just seven contests, all within the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, and only three times at home. This fall, the Yellow Jackets have three non-conference matchups before beginning HCAC play.

To start the fall season, Defiance travels to Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 2 to play a night game with Capital University. Matsakis graduated from Capital in 1984 after earning First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors three times as a kicker.   

"We are excited to open up the season on a Thursday evening in Columbus, Ohio, with our first opportunity versus an OAC foe," Matsakis said. "We plan on opening up the next four seasons with an OAC team. Having said that, Albion coming to town will be quite the challenge as they are a premier team in the MIAA (Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association), and Alfred State is a team from upstate New York that has built up quite an impressive roster recently."

After the opener, DC hosts non-conference opponents Albion College and Alfred State College with an open week in between. Albion went 3-0 during the spring to capture the MIAA championship while ASC did not play at all during the 2020-21 academic year.

On Oct. 2, the Yellow Jackets are slated to play their third straight game at Justin F. Coressel Stadium and start HCAC competition. Defiance's homecoming contest is against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which posted a 4-1 overall record last spring.

DC is scheduled to be away from home for conference tilts at Manchester University and Hanover College on Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, respectively. The Yellow Jackets defeated Manchester, 22-16, on March 20 while Hanover claimed the spring's HCAC title with a 4-0 record.

Toward the end of October, Defiance welcomes conference rivals Mount St. Joseph University and Franklin College to the turf at Coressel Stadium. DC hosts Mount St. Joseph (5-1 last spring) on Oct. 23 and Franklin (4-3) the following Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets' final two contests are HCAC showdowns at Anderson University on Nov. 6 and at home with Bluffton University on Nov. 13. In the spring, Defiance posted a convincing 42-19 win over Anderson before a slim 23-20 loss at Bluffton, which went 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

"Every game is a challenge in the HCAC but with constant improvement, we feel up to the challenge," Matsakis said. "Our players are motivated to represent Defiance College on the gridiron, home or away, as we finally have the roster size to compete in our conference."

DC finished the shortened spring season at 2-5 for sixth place in the HCAC standings.