SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame College football team improved to 7-0 (7-0 MEC) after a solid 51-13 win against Wheeling University on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons scored over 50 points for the third-straight week with five offensive touchdowns, a defensive score, a special teams TD and a field goal.
 
It took hardly any time at all for the Falcon offense to get going. On the second play of the game, Chris Brimm hit Marvelle Ross for a 58-yard catch-and-run to score the first points of the game with just 35 seconds ticked off the game clock.
 
It was a sign of things to come as the Notre Dame offense gained 409 yards on just 58 snaps, and average of over seven yards.
 
"Anytime you see Marvelle running down the sideline you know it's going to be good," said running back Jaleel McLaughlin. "I was happy for him. But it was a good start to our day as the offense, it was great to have that at the beginning of the game."
 
McLaughlin took it in himself on the next offensive possession from 13 yards out. The NDC offense was able to start in the red zone after Bryce Sheppert made an exciting special teams play, blocking a punt.
 
It was the first of a pair of blocks for the true freshman. After Wheeling cut Notre Dame's lead in half (14-7) late in the first quarter, it was a play from Sheppert that put the Falcons back on the board. Pushing a would-be blocker into the Cardinals' punter, who was backed up in his own end zone, sent the ball flying in the air. Nik Pelligrino caught the ball at the one-yard line for an open way to pay dirt.
 
"Every time we go out there, we're trying to make a play on special teams," Sheppert said. "They're game-changing plays so when we get the opportunity to make the play you try really hard to make it. It's a lot of fun out there, and we all have a lot of energy.
 
"On that second block, we were supposed to be in a different type of return, but we saw how close he was. We all just wanted to go after it. When I saw the ball go up, I was just hoping we would get it. I was happy for Nik."
 
Head coach Mike Jacobs spoke after the game about how important the special teams unit has been this season.
 
"That's the fourth week where we've scored a special team's touchdown," Jacobs remarked. "We had two of them last week, and they completely transform games. A lot of our coaches are involved, but Anthony Baldesare is the guy who designs and organizes everything. I can't say enough about the job that he does. And our players' effort on those units is unbelievable. Those are big splash plays for us."
 
The next big play for the Falcons came from fullback Anthony DiDonato. Normally delegated as a blocker in the backfield, DiDonato saw his number called on a fourth-and-goal at the one yard line. Notre Dame had tried to punch it in on the previous three plays, but it took a quick hand off to the fullback to get it done.
 
After the game, DiDonato said he was not thinking about pressures of fourth down, he just wanted to score.
 
"It was a blessing," DiDontato said. "I loved every second of it, and it was a great experience. It's something I feel like was coming over time, and I was pretty happy about it.
 
"Scoring was great. I got across the goal line and it felt like there were 50 people around me. I got up and saw my friend [offensive lineman] Adam Riegler and he threw me up. Felt like I was a real running back for a second."
 
Wheeling was able to score on the following drive, but NDC was quick to respond. With just 2:06 to play before halftime, the Falcons marched down the field to score with just 10 seconds remaining. Ladennyawn Greene finalized the 13-play, 70-yard possession by breaking multiple tackles to take it into the end zone from three yards out.
 
NDC went into halftime with a 34-13 lead.
 
Things slowed down a bit for both teams in the second half with just 17 points scored. Both touchdowns for Notre Dame were highlights, however, as McLaughlin ran it in with a 45-yard carry and Keith Williams Jr. scored on a 60-yard pick-six. Tanner Harding capped the game off with a 25-yard field goal to make it a 38-point difference in favor of the home team.
 
McLaughlin's long run in the third quarter was his last of the game, but he was still able to accumulate 172 yards. Of his 17 rush attempts, the sophomore either gave his team a first down or scored on 10 of them. Of the 14 first downs collected by Notre Dame in the first three quarters, McLaughlin was responsible for eight.
 
"I try to get better every week, and I have been trying to get to the sticks more often instead of just looking for the big play," McLaughlin said. "I have been trying to develop more patience in my game. It's going to make me a better player, and make our team better."
 
McLaughlin turned things over to his fellow running backs in the fourth quarter, as a total of nine backs attempted at least one rush in the game's 60 minutes of play. Both McLaughlin and Jacobs were happy to see them in the game.
 
"I loved to see it," McLaughlin said. "All of our running backs work hard. Every single one of them study and know that when they get their chance, they have to make the best of it. That's exactly what they did today. Jalen Boyd had big runs. Rob Singletary had one run, but you saw him give 100% on that one carry. It's big. I love to see that stuff. It's a brotherhood in our room so I was loving it."
 
Jacobs continued the sentiment, saying it was great to see his captains and starters, on both the offense and defensive side, cheer on their teammates.
 
"Every player on this team has a role," Jacobs said. "And if we can reward them with playing time – which to me is the most important thing for a college player – it's awesome. That's how you build depth. It's one thing to practice, but it's another thing to get game reps against a good opponent in conference. That's how guys get better and get ready to step in when the players ahead of them graduate."
 
Notre Dame was led defensively by Nathan Moore, who totaled 14 tackles, including 10 in the first quarter alone. Moore also got in the backfield several times with 3.0 tackles for a loss.
 
"Nate is one of the smartest players on the team, and I'm not talking just football-wise," Jacobs said. "He's almost a 4.0 student. He has a nose for the football and knows where he needs to be most of the time. He has a physicality and awareness about him so he's able to put himself in position to make plays."
 
Notre Dame's defense held Wheeling to just 47 yards rushing on 36 attempts. Overall, the Cardinals averaged just 2.5 yards on 85 plays.
 
"That's a good clip for us defensively," Jacobs said. "We did a good job putting them in third-and-long scenarios. They were 4-of-21 in third down. The problem was they went for it a bunch and we didn't get stops on fourth down. But overall, our rush defense was fantastic."
 
Notre Dame will host Findlay next week in its lone non-conference game of 2019. The Falcons and Oilers will kick off on Saturday, October 26, at 12 p.m.