Football Falls At Tiffin 31-28

OVERVIEW – TIFFIN

SCORE: Tiffin Dragons 31, Northwood Timberwolves 28
RECORDS: Northwood (2-3, 0-3 GLIAC), Tiffin (4-1, 3-0 GLIAC)
LOCATION: Frost Kalnow Stadium – Allendale, Mich.
RECAP: Tiffin uses a big-play offense to earn a hard-fought 31-28 win over Northwood Saturday (September 30).

INSIDE THE GAME

• After both teams punted on their opening possession, Tiffin got their first big play of the day on their second opportunity with the ball. They scored on a 45-yard touchdown run to give the Dragons a 7-0 lead.
• Northwood responded later in the opening quarter, tying the game on an eight-play, 48-yard drive. Grant Dunatchik capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:53 remaining in the quarter. That is how the score stood after the opening frame.
• The Dragons extended their lead in the second quarter. After the Timberwolves threw an interception, Tiffin got the ball at the NU 17 yard line. Northwood's defense did a good job stopping the Dragons on the drive, making Tiffin settle for a field goal. That made the score 10-7 with 6:10 remaining in the first half.
• After Northwood punted on the following possession, Tiffin needed one play to extend their lead. TU completed a 71-yard touchdown pass to give the Dragons a 17-7 lead that would stand at halftime.
• Northwood came out strong in the second half, going 51-yards on five plays on the opening drive. The possession was capped by a Justin Cook 16-yard touchdown run that made the score 17-14 with 13:03 remaining in the third quarter.
• Both Tiffin and Northwood punted on their next possessions when what proved to be the key stretch of the contest. Tiffin got it started on a 76-yard TD pass, making the score 24-14.
• Northwood the fumbled the ball on the kickoff, giving the ball back to Tiffin. The Dragons scored on the first play of the drive on a 35-yard TD pass to make the score 31-14 with 8:25 remaining in the third.
• That proved to be the last points of the day for Tiffin, however, which gave the Timberwolves the opportunity to get back into the game. On their next possession, Northwood went 75 yards on five plays. To cap the drive, Northwood used a trick play: running back T.J. Schepperly threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Alex Spicuzzi to make the score 31-21.
• Tiffin was driving on their next possession, but the drive was stopped by a red zone interception by Northwood's Niko Savich.
• Northwood cut the lead down to three with less than two minutes to go in the game. NU went 86 yards on four plays, which was finished off by an Andre Carter seven-yard touchdown reception from Dunatchik. That made the score 31-28 with 1:49 remaining.
• The Timberwolves were out of timeouts, however, and their onside kick attempt was recovered by the Dragons. Tiffin then ran out the clock to earn the win.  

GAME STATS

• FIRST DOWNS: Northwood 20, Tiffin 11
• RUSHES-YARDS: Northwood 44-148, Tiffin 35-133
• PASSING COMPLETIONS-ATTEMPTS-YARDS: Northwood 15-27-200, Tiffin 9-16-245
• TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS: Northwood 71-348, Tiffin 51-378
• THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: Northwood 4-15, Tiffin 2-12
• TIME OF POSSESSION: Northwood 31:51, Tiffin 28:09

STAT LEADERS

• Alex Spicuzzi: Three catches, 87 yards (career-high), TD (first career TD)
• Grant Dunatchik: 14-24 passing, 168 yards, TD, INT, rushing TD
• Travis Wiltjer: Seven tackles, two tackles for loss, sack

GAME NOTES

• Tiffin's four touchdown-scoring drives took a total of five combined plays: four one-play drives, one two-play drive.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host Michigan Tech Saturday (October 7). Game time is set for 1 p.m.