SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons opened their brand new on campus facility, Mueller Field, on Saturday afternoon, with a thrilling, 37-31 victory over the Malone Pioneers.

For the Falcons (1-0) the victory was their second in a row in a season opener, and it was their second in three tries against the Pioneers (0-1). 

The highly anticipated contest at the brand new on campus field lived up to the billing, as over 2,500 fans came out to see the grand opening, and a very exciting contest. 

There was very little scoring in the opening quarter, as Notre Dame freshman kicker Jake Suder's 41-yard field goal at the 2:53-mark were the only points over the first 15-minutes of the game, before the offenses got going. 

It didn't take the Pioneers long to respond, as Will Szpor found the end zone on a quarterback scramble from five yards out just five seconds into the second quarter to give the Pioneers the lead. 

Notre Dame marched right down the field on the ensuing drive, and capped a 13-play, 58-yard drive with a two yard touchdown rush by Pedro Powell.  The extra point was blocked, and nearly returned for two points before Derrick Bavol made a tackle at the NDC two yard line.

Malone capitalized on that momentum, and scored the next 10 points to take a 17-9 lead.  Justin Davis scored on a three-yard touchdown run at the 8:38-mark, before Jacob Bishop's 44-yard field goal hit the cross bar and bounced over with 3:45 remaining in the first half. 

After the field goal, Notre Dame marched right down the field and answered with a quick, two-minute, 28-second drive that went 60 yards on eight plays, and resulted in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ray Russ to DaJunn Graham. 

The second half didn't start out so promising for Notre Dame, as they went three and out, and at the end of the possession, Philip Fisher blocked Dominic Parisi's punt, and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. 

Notre Dame responded less than three minutes later, when Powell found the end zone for a second time.  His two-yard rush to paydirt capped a seven play, 55-yard drive to bring the Falcons back within one (24-23) with 10:56 to play in the third quarter. 

Malone's offense found the end zone one last time, when tight end Drew Bond caught a three-yard TD pass from Szpor to put the Pioneers up by eight again.

The fourth quarter was dominated by the Falcons, as their defense rose to the occasion, forced a few punts, and a turnover to seal the deal while the offense went to work. 

The longest play of the day from scrimmage was a huge momentum shifter with 11:46 to play when Russ found Jack Foy on a 58-yard TD pass to bring the Falcons within two (31-29). 

Five minutes later, with 6:12 to go in the game, Russ ran it in from one yard out, his third touchdown of the contest, and moments later he hooked up with Mitchell Shegos for the two-point conversion to give NDC a 37-31 lead. 

Josh Remark came through with a huge interception for the Falcons near midfield with less than five minutes remaining, as the NDC defense held its ground to secure the victory.

Powell, who ran for 245 yards against the Pioneers a season ago, led the NDC ground game with 164 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 36 carries. Russ threw for a pair of scores and completed 27-of-38 passes for 326-yards.  Foy was NDC's leading receiver with 10 receptions for 143 yards.

NDC tallied 508 yards of total offense, while converting 60.0-percent (9-for-15) of their third down conversions. 

The Falcons are in action again next Saturday, Sept. 14, when they hit the road for their Mountain East Conference opener against the Blue Knights of Urbana.  Kickoff in Urbana, Ohio, is scheduled for noon.

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Head Coach Adam Howard Post Game