SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The first eight drives resulted in scores for the Notre Dame College football team in its 2019 Homecoming game. The Falcons won big with a 52-6 victory against West Virginia Wesleyan College to improve to 5-0.
 
The game got off to a roaring start for NDC as the team marched down the field 55 yards on eight plays to score a touchdown on the opening drive. Chris Brimm got the ball to Andrew Turski for a 12-yard score in the first of what would be a five-touchdown game for the QB.
 
The defense forced a three-and-out on the first WVWC possession of the game, and the punt return team once again came up big. D'Niyae Morris hit the Bobcat punter at the one-yard line to give the Notre Dame offense the ball back in short yardage.
 
Jaleel McLaughlin punched it in to put Notre Dame up 14-0 and converted on a defensive series that head coach Mike Jacobs said opened the flood gates.
 
"That's three weeks in a row our team has been able to get pressure on an opposing punter," Jacobs said referring to back-to-back games with blocked punts in Week 3 and 4. "Our punt return team is doing a really nice job. We challenge them – even though we had the punt block last week – we challenged our players. We thought we could be better."
 
Bryce Sheppert, who led the defense with seven tackles and two interceptions said the special teams units are a lively bunch. Sheppert returned a blocked punt for a touchdown against Urbana, and has been a standout on special team in his freshman season.
 
"It's a lot of fun," Sheppert said. "Coach [Tony Baldesare] is always inspiring us to make big plays. We're always juiced up before the game, and it's just a fun unit to be out there with."
 
The next two drives for the NDC offense were highlight plays as Turski and Marvelle Ross each scored on big catch-and-runs. Turski went 70 yard to cap off a three-play drive while Ross went 79 yards on the second play of the ensuing possession.
 
"I didn't know I had the speed until it happened," Turski said after his long touchdown. "I caught the ball and saw a bunch of green in front of me; I thought I was Jaleel out there."
 
Brimm finished the first quarter with six completions on six attempts for 192 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore quarterback was playing so well in the first half at one point his quarterback efficiency rating was 395.6.
 
The success in the passing game came through because of how well the Falcons have been performing in practice.
 
"Today was all about our preparation," Brimm said. "We had a really good week in practice, and we came into today focused."
 
Turski echoes Brimms's sentiment after another strong week. The connection between the two players has been strong over the past two weeks as Turski has six receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns in that time frame.
 
"The first touchdown Chris threw to me was kind of a scramble," Turski said. "We ran that exact same play in practice, and that's how it worked there too. We execute things at such a high level during the week, that Saturday is clock work."
 
Brimm threw two more touchdowns in the second quarter, one to Tay Johnson for 11 yards and one to Jeremy Hamilton from two yards out. His five scoring passes ties the program record for most in a game. Brimm joined the ranks of Ray Russ and Malik Grove as the third player at NDC to toss five TDs.
 
"It's always a good feeling when you get a lot of completions, but I want to stress how hard the receivers and offensive line work," Brimm said. "They put all the work in day in and day out."
 
Usually highlighted by their ability to run the ball, the Falcons put on a Homecoming show through the air on Saturday after the offense adjusted early in the game. The Wesleyan defense stacked the box to give Notre Dame a window through the air.
 
"It's our job to take advantage of what people are giving us," Jacobs said. "We never go into a game wanting to be skewed. I go into every week wanting a 50/50 split between the pass and run game. Things just happened to fall towards the pass game this week. With their defense having to contend with a back as good as Jaleel, we saw things open up. And Chris was extremely accurate today, the best he's been all year."
 
Tanner Harding capped on a drive in the third quarter with a 45-yard field goal to break the NDC record for longest field goal, a record he set last season at 42. It was the last scoring drive of the contest as Notre Dame was able to bring out its second and third units to grind the game down.
 
"I love getting the chance to see some of our young players, the guys that work hard all week," Jacobs said. "To get a chance to get them in the game and see quality reps early in the second half, while also taking some of the wear and tear off our starters, was a big deal for us today."
 
The NDC defense made the most of this opportunity as Sheppert and Shean Roy led the team in tackles with seven and six stops, respectively. In the first half, Curtis Collins led the team with five tackles, including two tackles for a loss.
 
"It was a surreal moment," Sheppert said "I want to thank our older players because from the moment I got here they've been on me, pushing me to reach my potential. Once you get out there, the game starts to slow down because of them."
 
Sheppert had two of the team's four interceptions. Nik Cotton and Keith Williams Jr. also picked off the WVWC quarterbacks.
 
While the NDC defense was not able to record a sack, the defensive line provided a great amount of pressure. The team had seven quarterback hurries, including five from Sha'haun Williams.
 
"We don't even talk a lot about sacks," Jacobs said. "Sacks are great, and they effect the game, and they're big swing plays, but we talk about effecting the quarterback. We work a lot on doing things with our hands to effect throwing motions, and getting into the passing lane. Any time you can effect passes up front, it allows us to make big plays in the back half. They did a really nice job."
 
Notre Dame is now 4-0 in Homecoming games under the leadership of Jacobs. For the head coach, these games are just as much an opportunity to reconnect.
 
"We're a young program so it's great to see guys come back," Jacobs said. "It's great to see guys that were here from the start, when it wasn't the best program. For them to be able to come back and take a lot of pride in what we're doing on the football field – and the way we hold ourselves off the field as well – it gives you a tremendous feeling. There seems to be more and more guys back every year – we even saw some players here from the original team – and to keep building those life-long relationships with these kids is everything."
 
Notre Dame will travel to Charleston next week to face off against the 4-1 Golden Eagles. The October 12 kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.