Box Score
TIFFIN, Ohio -- In a continuing trend of losing close-game heart-breakers, Notre Dame came up on the wrong side of a 27-22 game at Tiffin on Saturday.

Both teams went into the contest looking to break respective five-game losing streaks, and both were seeking their first GLIAC victory in 2012.   Tiffin (2-5, 1-5 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) jumped out to a 10-0 lead only to see the Falcons (1-6, 0-6) battle back and even things midway through the second quarter.  A late first-half score and a solid second half put the Dragons over the top in what marked the first meeting between Notre Dame and Tiffin.

Tiffin dented the Notre Dame defense for 363 passing yards in the game, with wide receiver Obadiah Dykes hauling in 10 catches for 194 yards.  Running backs Pedro Powell (117 rushing yards, TD) and Jack Foy (nine receptions, two TDs) had impactful games for NDC, which has now lost its last three games by a combined nine points.

After the two teams had traded punts over the first five drives of the game, the home side struck first when kicker Seth Pekoe split the uprights on a 27-yard field goal.  That drive was set up by a big 69-yard pass play with receiver Obadiah Dykes being knocked to the turf at the Notre Dame 5-yard line.  After that big play, however, the Falcon defense held and the Dragons were forced to settle for the field goal.

On NDC's next possession, quarterback Ray Russ was sacked on a third-and-4.  Russ had the football jarred loose on the play, resulting in a fumble that was recovered by Tiffin.  The Dragons scored on their next play from scrimmage when quarterback Dan Pitts found Jeremy Ortiz in the left flat; Ortiz bobbed and weaved his way through the Falcon defense, crossing the goal line 32 yards later.  That touchdown -- at the 2:43-mark in the first quarter -- put Tiffin up, 10-0.

Nearly right away after that score, the Falcons were picked up by the powerful running of Pedro Powell.  Notre Dame's workhorse back had runs of 17 and 23 yards in a drive that sent the Blue & White all the way down to the shadow of the TU end zone.  The drive stalled right there, however, and NDC came away with no points after a Tiffin goal-line stand on fourth-and-goal from the Tiffin 1-yard line.
 
That play ended the first quarter with Notre Dame still trailing by 10.  Pinned back on their own 1-yard line, the Dragons were forced into a three-and-out capped by a sack.  Tiffin then punted (into the wind) and a key 13-yard return by Bo Grunder set up Notre Dame's first TD of the contest.  On the first play after the punt return, Ray Russ hooked up with Jack Foy on a short pass, and Foy threaded his way through several defenders, plowing into the end zone as he was crunched between two TU tacklers.  That touchdown and the ensuing extra point brought the Falcons with three, at 10-7.

After forcing a three-and-out, Notre Dame put together a short drive which set up a game-tying 41-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Jordan Colson.  That three-pointer marked the first of Colson's career and the longest in NDC history, and it tied the contest, at 10-10.

Tiffin put together a nice drive at the end of the first half, and that drive was capped off by a Dan Pitts screen pass to Obadiah Dykes which resulted in a 40-yard dash to paydirt at the 1:16-mark.

With most of its 225 yards coming on a handful of big plays, Tiffin went into halftime leading, 17-10.

In the second half, Notre Dame got within one, at 17-16, after Pedro Powell powered his way into the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the one.  A subsequent misfire on the extra point -- a block of a low kick -- kept Tiffin in the lead by one.

The Dragons upped that lead to eight (24-16) on their next drive when Dan Pitts peppered the Falcon defense for four completions (all 14 yards-plus) in marching TU 70 yards to a score (a 14-yard TD pass from Pitts to Jeremy Ortiz).

A resilient Notre Dame squad counterpunched without delay, when on the team's next drive the Falcons put together an 11-play, 75-yard drive, culminating with a 2-yard TD run by Jack Foy. A pass attempt on a two-point conversion was batted away by a TU defensive back, preserving a 24-22 lead.

After an exchange of punts and with the game having drifted into the fourth quarter, Tiffin put together an effective 12-play drive which took five minutes-and-26 seconds off the clock. The drive was capped off by a key 35-yard field goal by Seth Pekoe, and the Dragons went up, 27-22.

NDC was unable to rally, thus losing a third straight game by one score.