GLENVILLE, W.Va. – Notre Dame College scored 20 points on three touchdowns in the second quarter, initiated by a 73-yard touchdown run by Jaleel McLaughlin. That big quarter catapulted the Falcons to a 27-17 victory over Glenville State College on an overcast Saturday in West Virginia.

Glenville State (1-1, 1-1 MEC) had the opportunity to put the first points on the board with 8:07 remaining in the first stanza. The Pioneers' Justin Watts had a potential 36-yard field goal blocked by Tre'von Slater which was recovered by Jeffrey Thomas.

Later in the quarter, a fumble recovery gave the Pioneers the ball at Notre Dame's 39 yard line. GSC's ensuing drive was highlighted by an 11 yard rush by Mario Pender and an 11 yard reception by Tre Crutcher. In the red zone, the Falcons' Cedric Lynch dove in front of the intended receiver to intercept Glenville State's Jaylen McNair at the NDC five yard line, preventing a touchdown.

After both teams punted on ensuing drives, Notre Dame (2-0, 2-0 MEC) broke through for the first score of the contest in the second quarter. Two plays into the drive, McLaughlin ran for 73 yards, escaping to the outside of the defense and using one more block downfield by Marvelle Ross to reach pay dirt, giving NDC a 7-0 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

On Glenville State's next drive, their punter, Watts, took a snap on fourth down. He tucked the ball and tried to run for a first down, but was stopped for an eight yard loss.

NDC got the ball on the GSC 22 yard line and made quick work. Following a nine yard run from McLaughlin, quarterback Chris Brimm threw a pass to Conner Henry, who curled around a defender and got to the end zone. Notre Dame led 13-0 with 5:11 to go in the first half.

The extra point, however, was blocked by Quin Twine and then returned for two points by Samuel Thomas, putting GSC on the board for the first time.

On Glenville State's next drive, McNair completed five passes, including four in a row, to get the Pioneers to NDC's 16 yard line. Then, an intentional grounding penalty and a delay of game pushed the Pioneers back to the 34 yard line for fourth down and 28 yards to go. Watts punted the ball nine yards and gave Notre Dame the ball with 1:10 remaining before halftime.

NDC needed to go 65 yards, and they did just that. Brimm completed two passes while McLaughlin ran for 19 yards and Brian Walker rushed for five yards. Brimm then threw a ball to the endzone that Walker reached back and snagged with one hand. The score put NDC ahead, 20-2, going into halftime.

To start the third quarter, NDC got the ball back, and immediately moved down the field. Two completed passes, two runs of five yards and three yards, along with a 15 yard personal foul penalty on Glenville State put Notre Dame in position to strike. A 31-yard rush by Nehemiah Brown gave NDC a 27-2 advantage.

From there, it looked like Notre Dame could cruise to victory with about 13 minutes to go in the third quarter. But Glenville State continued to put pressure on NDC. With about six-and-a-half minutes to go in the third, the Pioneers started a drive at the NDC 36, following a strong punt return. McNair connected with Javon Butler for a one play, 36 yard touchdown.

Beginning with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Glenville State used a four play drive, capped by a 66 yard touchdown pass to Butler, in just 1:29, to cut the deficit to ten points (27-17).

Notre Dame's offense had chances in the fourth quarter, but could not sustain a drive long enough to put points on the board.

NDC's defense held, as did Glenville State's, and neither team scored the rest of the way.

"At the end of the day, we were able to come away with the victory," said head coach Mike Jacobs. "I thought the defense played well. They were on the field today for a significant number of reps and plays. I thought they did a really good job. One of our keys to victory every week is stopping the run and we held them to 25 yards on 26 rushes. So to make them one dimensional and do some of those things, I'm extremely proud of how the team played and that's a whole team defensive effort."

One player on the defense that continues to add to his impressive resume is Jeffrey Thomas. Today, he had five tackles to go along with seven pass break-ups, which was a single-game NDC record. He is now the NDC single-season leader in passes defended, with 12, and holds the NDC record for most passes defended with 21, in 13 career games.

"It's just me staying blessed," said Thomas. "Also, keeping my eyes right. Just like coach has always told me: eyes and feet right, and make a play on the ball."

"That's great and he's only a sophomore," said Jacobs. "Jeff's been a guy who we talked about last week, he's been one, if not our most consistent defensive back and he's a sure tackler. He's a kid that works really hard in practice and I'm really excited about where he's at and I'm happy for him."

Brimm threw for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 19 attempts for Notre Dame. Ross led the receivers with 66 yards receiving on five catches. McLaughlin added 176 rushing yards and Brown had 84 rushing yards.

Following the game, Jacobs spoke about his talented running backs.

"I can't tell you enough how talented that room is, top to bottom," Jacobs explained. "It's kind of whoever has the hot hand. Brian Walker did a lot of really good things today, he had made an unbelievable catch for a touchdown and it shouldn't go unnoticed the stuff that Brian's doing. Nemo (Brown) did a good job, came in when he was called. And again, the freshman (McLaughlin) continues to do some big things for us and provide a spark with some big offensive plays."

Defending MEC Defensive Player of the Week, Guam Lee finished with a team-high seven tackles and a tackle-for-loss. Brumfield had a sack and Vincent Ellis and Sha'haun Williams combined for a half sack, each.

For Glenville State, McNair threw for 300 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Pender rushed for just 23 yards after going for 161 yards in week one. Butler caught two touchdowns and a total of 187 yards. Crutcher caught ten targets for 87 yards. Dom Cizauskas led the Pioneers defense with 11 tackles. He also had a sack and two tackles-for-loss along with a forced fumble. D'Andre Brown had two tackles-for-loss.

Notre Dame will take on West Virginia State University at home, on Mueller Field, on September 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.