KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Notre Dame College entered Saturday's game averaging 40.3 points per game and Kutztown University was scoring 37.1 points per game. But, an old football adage describes defense as being the key to winning championships, and with that in mind, Notre Dame finished their NCAA Division II Second Round game with five takeaways and a 20-17 victory.
 

"I'd first like to congratulate Jim Clements and Kutztown University on their outstanding season," said head coach Mike Jacobs. "First class organization and really good football team. As far as the game today, I'm as proud of this win as any that I've been a part of. I thought our guys dug deep, the breaks didn't always go our way today, but they dug deep, they stayed together. We made some critical plays at critical points in the game that allowed us to move on to the round of eight."
 

After the Falcons had to punt on their first possession, Kutztown put together a solid drive, running 11 plays for 67 yards. However, the NDC defense stood up and stopped KU at the Notre Dame 11-yard line after an incompletion. Dean Krcic's 28-yard field goal attempt was no good, with 7:59 on the clock. Krcic ended the season just 2-for-7 on field goal attempts.
 

Notre Dame looked to jump on the opportunity, using three pass plays and three run plays to gain 37 yards. Chris Brimm, who was 3-for-3 to start the drive, looked to Zaire Mitchell in the middle of the field, but Nick Palmer stepped in and picked it off.
 

The NDC defense did not wait long to make another statement. Starting on their own 48-yard line, Kutztown's quarterback Collin DiGalbo almost single handedly took his team down the field, throwing for 11 yards and running for 17. However, on third and goal at the NDC three-yard line, DiGalbo dropped back to pass and was picked off by Davionn Johnson, who fell to the turf just in front of the goal line. The game remained scoreless with 1:44 to go in the first quarter.
 

Notre Dame, still struggling to get the offense going, had to punt the ball away after three short runs by Jaleel McLaughlin. Kutztown would convert on a third and 12 with a 12-yard pass and three plays later, a trick play put the first points on the scoreboard. The play began with a handoff to Abdul-Hassan Neblett, who tossed the ball back to a receiver in motion. Jake Novak then threw a 15-yard pass to Jerry Kapp, for a touchdown.
 

A squib kick helped the Falcons with field position, as the KU kickoff was fielded by Mitchell at Notre Dame's 33-yard line. After NDC ran four plays that resulted in nine yards, or less, Ladennyawn Greene broke through the line and then glided into the endzone for a 52-yard touchdown, tying the game at seven. This was the second consecutive week that Greene had a TD run over 50 yards.
 

"I thought one of the keys to the game was DJ Greene, the way he ran the football, the way he blocked today," Jacobs said. "He's a 3,000 yard rusher, who has done some full-back type things for us. And for him to really play a big role in getting our offense going, is big for us."
 

"I just have to give a shout out to my line, they did most of the leg work, I was just running to the endzone," Greene said. "I didn't have to do too much work."
 

Greene finished the day with 130 rush yards on 16 carries. This also marked the second consecutive week in which he did not lose a yard on any rush attempts.
 

"It feels great," he said. "That's why I worked so hard to come back. Last year hurt, not being able to go out there and help Jaleel. I knew he was beat up and he took a lot of carries. I'm just glad that I can play my part in helping this team."
 

Kutztown bounced right back with an 80-yard pass from DiGalbo to Diego Torres, which gave Kutztown a 14-7 advantage. The game that was scoreless for over 17 minutes, all of a sudden had three scores by the 10:24-mark in the second quarter.
 

Both teams looked to have one more shot at putting points on the board before halftime, but Tanner Harding missed a 45-yard field goal for Notre Dame and then with Kutztown driving to the NDC 23-yard line, a pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Derrick Brumfield.
 

Bryce Sheppert also had an interception later in the second quarter and for the second time this season, NDC had three interceptions in a half. Sheppert is now tied for second in NDC history with four interceptions in a season. Despite the strong defensive play, the score was still 14-7 in favor of Kutztown after 30 minutes.
 

Notre Dame's McLaughlin was held to 23 first half rush yards, while Brimm only threw for 41. For KU, DiGalbo had 209 passing yards, but also had the three interceptions.
 

Incredibly, to begin the second half, another Kutztown pass was intercepted, this time by Jeffrey Thomas. DiGalbo had six interceptions coming into the game, but threw four on Saturday. The Falcons' four interceptions ties their season-high, as they picked off four passes against West Virginia Wesleyan, on October 5.
 

"The turnover battle at this point in the season is always critical, especially with the quarterback at the caliber of DiGalbo," Jacobs mentioned. "I thought our defensive line did a good job of getting at the quarterback. I thought we pressured him more than it may show on film. Generating some pressure and then our guys finished plays in the back half. It was good to see them catch the ball today and get positive yardage after the big plays in the backfield."
 

"I feel like [the defense] stepped up and played lights out. The secondary is very underrated, so it was up to us to step up and win this game for our team," said Ron Salters, who had two pass break ups on the day.
 

McLaughlin then settled in and ran for 38 yards on NDC's next drive. That helped set up a 30-yard field goal for Harding, who snuck it through. Making the score 14-10 with 8:14 to go in the third.
 

"I just continued to try and be myself, there was no frustration [in the first half]," McLaughlin said. "I just wanted to do whatever I could to help my team win this game. If that was gaining three or four yards, and helping my team win that way, I just continue to be myself and trust my offensive line to block for me because those guys do a great job."
 

The sophomore running back ran for 140 yards in the second half of the game and finished with 163. He has already reached 5,000 career all-purpose yards and sits at 5,043. That comes one week after teammate Marvelle Ross became the second player in Mountain East Conference history to hit 5,000.
 

Later in the third, the Golden Bears recovered a fumble at their own 47-yard line and drove 46 yards down the field for a 24-yard field goal. That would give the home team a seven-point advantage, but they would not score for the rest of the game.
 

A major turning point in the game occurred on an NDC drive that began in the third quarter and bled into the fourth. The Falcons went 70 yards down the field, only to turn the ball over on downs, after direct snaps to McLaughlin did not produce the two yards needed.
 

While it seemed Kutztown would have the momentum, three plays into their drive, Brumfield sacked DiGalbo, causing a fumble. Saivon Davis jumped on the ball before it rolled out of the back of the endzone and the Falcons tied the game at 17.
 

With just under four minutes to go, the Falcons' defense stopped the Golden Bears on fourth down. That led to a 34-yard drive, but a 44-yard field goal miss by Harding.
 

DiGalbo then threw three consecutive incompletions, and after KU punted the ball away, NDC took the ball down the field 47 yards in 46 seconds, as McLaughlin ran for 52 yards on the drive. Harding lined up for a 30-yard field goal and knocked it through as the clock struck zero.
 

"You have to forget [the misses] and move on, there's always going to be another kick," Harding said. "You have to be mentally strong and go out there."
 

"They're as together as any group that I've been around," Jacobs stated. "And I'm talking about a brotherhood, family standpoint. I'm not the easiest guy to play for and they work extremely hard for us and they're committed to one another and committed to trying to do things the right way. They play for each other and I think they have that understanding that you're never out of a game if you do those kinds of things. The most important play is always the next one. Tanner is a great example of that. He shook it off and drilled the kick to give us a win today. Really proud of their effort and their mindset that they came out with in the second half."
 

The Falcons finished with 305 rush yards, which is the first time they ran for over 300 yards since racking up 347 against Frostburg State on November 2. It's just the third time this year, that they have ran for over 300 yards.
 

The defense limited DiGalbo in the second half to five completions for 57 yards. He finished the game with 266 pass yards. His favorite target, Torres, had four catches for 129 yards in the first half and zero catches in the second half.
 

"I don't know if we did much more [in the second half,]" Jacobs said. "We were a little more aggressive, but it was more about execution. I didn't think, as a whole, we executed at a very high level in the first half. I thought we picked that up and got significantly better in the second. Really that was the key to the game, more than anything."
 

"A key for us was communicating," Davionn Johnson said. "There were times in the first half where we lacked communication. At halftime, our coach challenged us and said if we didn't step it up we might be going home sad. We talked and we picked each other up. We kept a positive mindset and communicated and it showed."
 

Guam Lee led the team with 10 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss. Sheppert added seven tackles to go along with his interception.
 

The Falcons will travel to play Slippery Rock University, the top seed in Super Region One, on December 7. The start time for the NCAA Quarterfinal game has not yet been announced.