SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Coming into this weekend, Notre Dame College had won four consecutive games on Homecoming weekend, and the Falcons made it clear early that they were not going to end that streak. NDC put 28 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter, on their way to a 52-14 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan College.

"I can't thank our fans and our parents enough," said head coach Mickey Mental. "They're second to none, they make this thing go. And obviously with the alumni coming back, we haven't seen them in a while because of what we're going through as a country. But to get those guys back, to get them introduced to the newer players on the team, is important. Love those guys and glad to see them come on home."

West Virginia Wesleyan received the opening kick, but failed to grab a first down and punted the ball away. After a very short punt, NDC had great field position on WVWC's 40-yard line. Tyris Dickerson did most of the damage, running three times for a total of 30 yards. He found the endzone with a 13-yard run. Dickerson would finish the game with 128 rushing yards.

The sun began to shine for the first time all day around kickoff and that, along with the swirling wind, made it difficult for the Bobcats' return team to field the kickoffs. After they lost the first kickoff in the sun but recovered, the ball on the second NDC kickoff hit the turf and was inadvertently kicked by a W.Va. Wesleyan player and recovered by the Falcons.

Starting on the 24-yard line, NDC made quick work of another scoring drive. On 3rd down with one yard to go, Dickerson continued to run full steam ahead and pushed forward for 11 yards. The Falcons then used wide receiver Tyshawn Lighty, running from right to left, to take the hand off and use his speed to find the endzone for his first career touchdown. With 9:12 on the first quarter clock, the Falcons led 14-0.

The Falcons scored on all four of their first quarter drives and for the final two possessions, they used the passing game to put points on the board. Jalen Boyd saw action early in the game, getting three rush attempts on the third drive, for 16 yards. Then Chris Brimm found him with a 10-yard touchdown pass, giving the Falcons a 21-0 advantage.

After another short West Virginia Wesleyan drive, the dangerous NDC offense needed only three plays to put six points on the scoreboard. Brimm completed a pass to Devanaire Conliffe down the sideline and then the receiver went to work. Conliffe did not have an easy path to the endzone, but used his strength to work around, and through, a couple defenders for a 56-yard TD.

Brimm finished the game with 231 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Not to be overlooked, the NDC defense did not allow the Bobcats to get a first down until their final drive of the first quarter. WVWC punted on its first four drives.

But, the visiting team found a spark early in the second quarter. A pass from Brimm was intercepted, but then called back because of an offside penalty. Two plays later, the Bobcats found their way around the offensive line and pressured Brimm again, and the NDC quarterback threw an interception which stood without a penalty.

On the next W.Va. Wesleyan possession, quarterback Nathan Payne went to work. What looked to be an interception from NDC's Antoine Holloway II was called back because of an offside penalty, and that was followed by a drive that included five completed passes by Payne for a total of 71 yards. The 13 play, 85-yard drive took 7:08 off the second quarter clock and Javian Tomlinson had the one-yard rushing touchdown. Also of note on that drive, NDC was called for three offside penalties, although two were declined, along with a pass interference call to give the Bobcats a boost.

"Give [Wesleyan] credit, their quarterback was 18-for-22," Mental said. "I thought they did a really good job underneath of taking what was presented. We have to get off the field, our penalties prolonged two of their first downs. We have to be diligent tomorrow and come ready to work."

Payne did have a solid day for W.Va. Wesleyan, completing 18 passes for 159 yards before going down with an injury. The Bobcats used three quarterbacks, Payne, Briar Wilfong and Jamir Boyd, but they were sacked a combined seven times against this NDC defense that now has 30 on the season.

Neither team scored until the Falcons put three on the board right before halftime. A drive that started at the two-minute mark was not the smoothest, but the Falcons found a way to get down the field. Brimm completed a pass to Reece Perkins for 20 yards and another one, later in the drive, for 21 yards. Harding came on and kicked a 31-yard field goal through the uprights to give NDC a 31-7 lead before the half.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the Bobcats' second scoring drive of the game began at the end of the third stanza. The highlights of that drive were a 20-yard pass completion to Dariuse Cooper on a 4th and 6 play and an 18-yard completed pass, caught by Jujuan Linzy on 3rd and 16. Tomlinson, again, ran in for a short touchdown. West Virginia Wesleyan trailed by just 17 points, 31-14, with 14:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After being outscored 14-3 since the end of the first quarter, NDC needed a spark. The Falcons' offense quickly energized the crowd when Brimm threw a perfectly placed ball to CJ Kiss for a 64-yard touchdown catch, just three plays into the next drive.

"That was a big touchdown catch and run by CJ," Brimm said. "We kind of caught [Wesleyan] in the middle of a blitz, so we had to take what the opportunity gave us."

The extra point kick following that score was significant because it made Tanner Harding the all-time leader in the Mountain East Conference in career points (375). He already holds the MEC and NDC career record in extra-point kicks (231) and field goals made (48).

"It's an incredible feeling, seeing my name next to a record like that," Harding mentioned. "I want to give a shout out to Zach Frye and Dom [Buttazzoni] and the guys before, Ron Robinson and Austin Treneff. All of them were a part of this record. It's always great to win big games at home to celebrate something like that in front of the home crowd and my family, it's an incredible feeling."

Both offenses sputtered over the next eight minutes of the quarter. But special teams and defense stepped up for the Falcons. Bryce Sheppert returned a punt 53 yards for a touchdown with 5:40 remaining in the game. That put Notre Dame in front 45-14.

Nik Cotton intercepted his first pass of the year and gave the ball right back to NDC. Blake Traylor had a 19-yard run and then a 10-yard rush to pay dirt for his first career TD.

"Anytime you can rush for 240 [yards] and pass for 255 is a good day at the offense," Mental said. "I was pleased with going 5-of-11 on third downs and 5-of-6 in the red zone. It's good to see when you take the extra time and focus on things in practice, good things come of it. That special teams score is huge. We got a turnover on special teams with the wind and the kickoff unit doing a really good job of flying down. But the biggest thing is, [Wesleyan] rushed the ball 32 times for negative-22 yards. That's big time. Coach [Jake] Chestnut and his staff and the defense did a tremendous job stopping the run, making them one dimensional."

Notre Dame finished with 495 yards of total offense and their 240 rushing yards are the second most in a game this season.

Seven different Falcons had a sack including Xavier Perkins and Jeff Sampson, who both recorded the first sack of their careers. Guam Lee led the Falcons with 10 tackles. He is now tied with Bo Grunder for the program lead in career total tackles.

"I'm just blessed to be here," Lee said. "Shout out to God, that's all I think about when I think football. We played a solid game, we had a lot of three-and-outs in the first quarter. I feel like some of those [Wesleyan] extended drives should have been shortened. But I thought we played a solid game."

Notre Dame will travel to Glenville State University next Saturday, Oct. 23, for a 1:30 p.m. start.