SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- In front of a home crowd for the first time in more than a month, the Notre Dame Falcons battled a ranked Marian (Ind.) squad before falling by a final score of 35-22 on Saturday. (Box)

The No. 14 (NAIA Coaches' Poll) Knights scored 14 points in the second quarter and 14 more in the fourth, erasing an early three-point deficit in the win in front of 1,436 fans at Notre Dame's Homecoming Game. Marian quarterback Clay Coomer went 17-of-23 for 244 and two TDs, as the Knights rebounded to win for the sixth time this season. Marian (6-2) was locked in a 21-16 battle before it got two key rushing touchdowns from JaQuan Patilla in the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame (2-6) held the Knights' high-power offense in check through long stretches of the game, and the Falcon defense scored its first touchdown as NDC played at Korb for the first time since Sept. 18.

The NDC offense, which produced a season-high 19 first downs on the day, was led by running back #Pedro Powell# who pinballed his way to 137 rushing yards on 34 carries. Powell's solid game, his fifth straight 100-yard effort, enabled Notre Dame to dominate time of possession, 34:38 to 25:22. The Falcons got a defensive score on a pick-six by sophomore defensive back #John Hamilton#, a TD run by quarterback #James Flowers# and a touchdown pass from Flowers to #Derrick Paster#.

Flowers went 12-for-29 for the game, totaling 153 yards through the air. Paster accounted for 88 of those yards; he had five catches in what was Notre Dame's third home tilt of the season.

Notre Dame got on the board first when Hamilton intercepted a Coomer pass and ran it back 28 yards for the first score of the game at the six-minute mark in the first quarter. Marian, which came into the game averaging 275.6 passing yards per contest, scored on a passing play three and-a-half minutes later to knot the score a 7-7.

Placekicker #Jeremy Geier# hit his second field goal of the season early in the second; that put the Falcons up, 10-7. Marian, however, would take the lead for good at the 9:31-mark when Coomer connected with Julian Williams on a 29-yard TD strike.

Coomer -- an Ohio native -- leads an attack that came into the game ranked 12th in the nation in passing yards. That passing attack would be featured liberally in a key, late-second-quarter drive that was capped off by a TD run of two yards. The drive included five complete passes, including a key third down converted at the NDC 35 with 44 seconds remaining in the half.

The Falcons returned fire in the opening drive of the second half with a methodical, seven-minute march down the field in front of a charged-up Homecoming crowd. The 69-yard drive was spearheaded by Powell, and in terms of plays (13) and time elapsed (7:04) marked the team's longest of the season.

That score, along with a blocked extra point, found Notre Dame within five (21-16) of the ranked Knights. Those digits would hold up on the Korb Field scoreboard throughout the third quarter in what looked like a potential upset for the Falcons. A fumbled punt return, though, gave MU the ball in excellent field position near the end of the third. A 2-yard TD run by JaQuan Patilla in the first play of the fourth gave the visiting Knights a 28-16 lead.

A 51-yard run by Joey Neberieza highlighted MU's next scoring drive, which culminated in another 2-yard run to paydirt by Patilla. That TD effectively put the game out of reach. Notre Dame closed out the scoring at the 28-second mark, when Flowers lofted a pass into the left corner of the end zone that Paster leapt for and grabbed while tumbling over an MU defender.

That Flowers-to-Paster TD boosted Notre Dame to its top single-game point total of the season (22). The Falcons had 300 yards of total offense (147 rushing, 153 passing). The offense also clicked at crunch time -- NDC was 8-of-19 on third down conversions and 2-of-3 on fourth downs.

Doing his part to keep the chains moving and the vaunted Marian offense off the field was Pedro Powell. In finishing the game with 134 rushing yards, Powell has now powered his way to 741 yards on the season. He came into Saturday's game ranked 14th in NAIA rushing yardage.

Leading the defense on Saturday was the trio of #Michael Lanigan# (11 tackles), #Bo Grunder# (nine) and #Shane Friend# (nine). #Bob Hansen# had four stops, including one sack and two tackles for loss. For the game, the NDC defense pitched four three-and-outs, had two interceptions and garnered seven tackles behind the MU line of scrimmage.

NDC is slated to host its fourth Korb Field game next Saturday, when the Falcons host the Crusaders of North Greenville University (S.C.). Kickoff in the Oct. 30 game is scheduled for 1 p.m.