Defense and special teams step up in 36-6 road win over Anderson

ANDERSON, Ind. – The defense and special teams units each delivered first-half touchdowns for the Defiance Yellow Jackets in Saturday's 36-6 road win over the Anderson Ravens at Macholtz Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets (3-4, 2-2 HCAC) improve to 3-1 away from home this fall and move past back-to-back home losses against conference contenders Mount St. Joseph and Franklin. DC also dropped the Ravens to 0-7 and 0-4 in the HCAC.

Momentum shifted to Defiance's favor early in the second quarter. Gripping tightly to a 6-0 lead with Anderson working on a third-and-goal, Thomas Coltrain intercepted a quarterback option pitched to the left, spun into the open field and returned the ball 95 yards for a Defiance touchdown. 

The Jackets special teams spelled disaster for the Ravens on Anderson's next possession. Already backed up against their own end zone due to back-to-back holding calls, Anderson was forced to punt after going three-and-out. Damarion LaBlanc led a bull rush through the center of the line to block Elijah St. Pierre's punt, and Defiance recovered the ball in the end zone for another touchdown. The Yellow Jackets extended the lead to 20-0 after the Zeke Sanchez extra point with just over nine minutes before halftime. 

The Ravens responded with their only points of the football game as Roosevelt Norfleet III's tossed a screen pass to Julian Holguin, the team's leading receiver, and Holguin did the rest of the work to turn the play into a 41-yard touchdown. The Yellow Jackets did not let the celebration last very long and blocked the extra-point attempt.

Defiance controlled the second half on both sides of the ball, scoring on 3 of 4 possessions and did not allow Anderson to run a play past DC's 40 yard line until their last turn with the football. 

On the Jackets' first drive of the third, short runs by Tyshaun Freeman and Jordan Ambrose marched the offense near midfield. On third down at the AU 40, Freeman snagged a short pass from Ambrose, shed a pair of defenders and broke loose down the sideline for a 40-yard gain before he was shoved out of bounds. That play eventually set up a 27-yard field goal by Sanchez, his third of the season. Ambrose and Freeman linked up again on a halfback wheel route during Defiance's next possession. Unlike the previous long pass play, Freeman would not be stopped on his way to a 32-yard  touchdown and plowed over two defenders on his way to the end zone. 

Freeman accounted for 143 total yards, 71 on the ground and 73 receiving, and scored two total touchdowns. He punched in DC's first score of the afternoon at the 7:13 mark of the first quarter on a 10-yard scamper. Ambrose was 8-for-15 passing for 136 yards and ran for 60 yards. Jehlani Warren operated the offense during Defiance's last two drives and ran six times for 22 yards and also completed 3-of-4 passes for 38 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown to his brother Jalen with 1:37 left in the contest. Dominic Harris was Defiance's top tackler with 11 stops, including one of the team's three total sacks and also forced a fumble.

DC's defense made an astounding 16 tackles for loss in the contest and forced two turnovers, not including the blocked punt and blocked extra point. The effort on that side of the ball limited Anderson to 254 yards of total offense, including a season-low 27 yards rushing by the Ravens. The Yellow Jackets were balanced offensively with 344 total yards split up between 174 passing and 170 yards on the ground.

Next week, the Jackets play their final road game of the campaign at Manchester (0-7, 0-4 HCAC). Kickoff against the Spartans is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

-JACKETS-