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Defiance scored an amazing win over Van Wert as Defiance hosted one of
the WBL favorites. The two teams played in week 10 last year, with
Defiance blasting Van Wert 41-7 the week before Van Wert's amazing
tournament run to the Division III title game. Van Wert dominated the line of scrimmage but Defiance put together their only sustained drive of the night with 5 minutes remaining in the game to win a tough defensive battle, 7-6. A missed extra point turned out to be the difference. The game saw no scoring until a minute into the second quarter when Van Wert scored a TD on a throw from Taylor Markward to Mark Fuerst from 20 yards out. Van Wert had capitalized on a fumble by Defiance deep in their own territory, and Van Wert scored one play later, although the extra point was missed. The first two quarters saw several turnovers from both teams. With the game only 6-0 at the half, field position was a big factor with the defenses dominating. Van Wert was able to pick up some first downs, but the Defiance defense didn't allow them into the end zone, with some help from Van Wert penalities and turnovers. Van Wert almost scored at the end of the first half, but an interception at the 5 yard line with 20 seconds left prevented any scoring. Defiance was not able to do much in the first half, offensively. Most of the first half was played on the Defiance side of the field. Van Wert's huge lines and linebackers managed to contain Defiance's running game, which gained 330 yards in week 1. In the second half, Defiance turned primarily to a passing game to get something going. Austin Keel, the Defiance QB, began to work from a shotgun to gain more mobility. The second half played similar to the first, defenses not allowing much. With the defenses not allowing any points in the second half, the intensity and urgnecy was turned up for Defiance. Van Wert's defense seemingly had the Defiance offense in check. Defiance could not get more than one or two first downs per drive, and was just looking for a break defensively to get something started. All Van Wert had to do was run out the clock with some first downs, but with 8 minutes to play in the game, Isaac Lee intercepted a Taylor Markward pass at the Defiance 40, the 3rd interception thrown by Van Wert. After the interception, Defiance faced 3rd and long, as they did many times, but this time managed a big play to get things started. Keel found an open Lee, who managed to slip behind his defender. Lee took it to the Van Wert 15 yard line. Defiance then faced 4th and 3 from the 7, and Keel managed to fake out the Van Wert defense on a handoff, took the ball around end and dove in for a TD to tie the game. The extra point was good to give Defiance the lead. The TD drive by Defiance was the only time they penetrated inside the Van Wert 40 yard line. Van Wert had two subsequent possessions, but the Defiance defense rose to the occasion two more times to seal the win. With the results, Defiance improved to 2-0 while Van Wert suffered their first loss to fall to 1-1. Joel Penton, the Ohio State commitment from Van Wert, played huge in the game, leading the excellent Van Wert defense with 16 tackles and 2 sacks. Garrit Nixon led the inspired Defiance defense with 13 tackles. Final Stats: Rush Yards Defiance - 34-49 yards (1.4 avg.) Van Wert - 31-122 yards (3.9 avg.) Pass Yards Defiance - 12-25-139 yards Van Wert - 16-33-159 yards Total Yards Defiance - 188 Van Wert - 300 First downs Defiance - 9 Van Wert - 14 Turnovers Defiance - 2 (1 fumble, 1 INT) Van Wert - 4 (1 fumble, 3 INT) Penalties Defiance - 3-30 yards Van Wert - 7-55 yards Scoring Defiance - 0 0 0 7 - 7 Van Wert - 0 6 0 0 - 6 The stats weigh in Van Wert's favor, and sometimes heavily. Turnovers and badly-timed penalties did Van Wert in, however. It was a very exciting game. Defiance hosts Lima Shawnee (1-1, 0-1) next week while Van Wert stays at home to play Wapakoneta (0-2, 0-1). Stats from the Crescent-News Nash |