ASHLAND, Ohio – When a season ends, it is tough to walk off the field that last time. However, Notre Dame College, and NDC's senior class, went to the locker room knowing they had accomplished something that may never be done again. A 20-13 loss to No. 12 Ashland University in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs ends the 2022 campaign, but not before the Falcons won their fifth consecutive conference title and made their fourth consecutive appearance in the national tournament.
 
Saturday's game quickly became a defensive battle, as the temperature dipped below 30 degrees, with a consistent wind swirling around the stadium. The Falcons' defense was up for the challenge and were getting after the ball right away.
 
Ashland received the opening kickoff and on the third play of the drive, and first pass play, Tavon Hooks read the route and intercepted the pass near his own sideline. That gave the NDC offense the ball on Ashland's 33-yard line. The Falcons would get to the 11-yard line, before calling on Cameron Shirkey to kick a field goal. Shirkey's attempt was good and NDC held a 3-0 lead, less than five minutes into the game.
 
Notre Dame's defense found the ball again on Ashland's second drive. The Eagles had gone down the field 28 yards before quarterback Austin Brenner lost control of the ball as he attempted to run to the right. Teddy Tiokeng jumped on the ball for the recovery and NDC was on the move again. But, the next Notre Dame drive would end with a punt.
 
The Eagles' first scoring drive began at the end of the first quarter and ended in the second. They ran the ball with Larry Martin several times, and one resulted in an 18-yard sprint down the field. On 3rd and 5, Brenner ran six yards to keep the drive alive. After a false start penalty pushed AU back, Antoine Holloway II broke up a pass on third down and Ashland tied the game up with a field goal.
 
The momentum started to shift toward the home team when Jourdan Swett intercepted a pass and gave the ball back to the Eagles. Larry Martin ran seven times during the next drive. The run game, along with two pass plays of at least 10 yards put Ashland into the red zone. From six yards away, Brenner tucked the ball and ran toward the goal line. He leapt into the endzone to give Ashland a 10-3 lead, which they would carry into the halftime break.
 
In need of a scoring drive, the Falcons got one, early in the third quarter. After both teams punted on their first drive of the second half, Notre Dame put the ball into the hands of Idris Lawrence, who ran for 20 yards over the first two plays. Possibly the highlight of the day came on the third play of the drive. On a flea flicker, Brimm handed the ball off and got it right back when Lawrence pitched it backward. Brimm then launched a perfect pass over the shoulder of Jeremy Hamilton, who was forced out of bounds with a 62-yard reception. A few minutes later, Shirkey would kick his second field goal through the uprights and NDC trailed 10-6.
 
Ashland responded immediately, and went 75 yards down the field to get into the endzone. Along with the run game, Brenner was successful through the air, finding Logan Bolin for 26 yards and, later on the drive, would place a pass into the back corner of the endzone, where Garrett Turnbaugh made the catch for a touchdown to put the Eagles up 17-6.
 
The action intensified near the end of the third quarter. Starting on their own 35-yard line, the Falcons began moving down the field. Brimm went 5-for-7 to start the drive and Lawrence ran for a 10-yard gain. On the last play of the quarter, Brimm had to scramble on third down. As he was falling on his back, a defender hit him high. The contact would cause him to leave the game.
 
"Very proud of our guys," said head coach Garrett Mack. "When you have a quarterback go down who has been the guy for six years, you never know how [that situation] is going to go. Hats off to our offense for putting things together. I think it shows how they've grown over the course of the year."
 
Isaiah Murphy took over as quarterback and immediately faced a 4th-and-two situation to begin the fourth quarter. He threw over the middle of the field and a pass interference penalty was called on Ashland, giving NDC the first down. Now into the redzone, Lawrence ran for nine yards and then Murphy threw the ball into the endzone, where CJ Kiss jumped and brought it down for NDC's first touchdown of the game.
 
Ashland would put three more points on the board with a 44-yard field goal at the 9:21-mark in the fourth quarter.
 
Once again, Murphy put together a solid drive. The Falcons went 58 yards down the field, getting to Ashland's 10-yard line. On fourth down, the Eagles' defense stepped up and covered the Falcons on the pass play. Murphy was sacked and Ashland took possession.
 
The game was still far from over, as Ashland got the ball with 2:44 on the clock, but could not get a first down. The Falcons were lined up to return a punt with just under a minute to go, but a fumble on the return attempt was recovered by AU to end the game.
 
Nathan Moore had 13 tackles, including eight assisted tackles, which ties his season-high.
 
"Chris [Brimm] has been here for six years, I've been here for five," Moore said. "[Our senior class], those guys mean a lot to me, I've played with them my whole career."
 
Many of the players who began their career in 2018 or 2019 played their final game, today. Since 2018, the Falcons have won 50 games, five consecutive MEC titles, five playoff games and went to the NCAA Semifinals in 2018. In that time, they lost just three conference games.

Murphy went 6-for-8 and totaled 61 passing yards after Brimm totaled 112 yards through the air. Lawrence ran for 115 yards.
 
"We've been a young team this year and things haven't always gone our way, but we've grown," Mack mentioned. "Not only because of the experience, but because of our seniors. Hats off to those guys leading the way. I can't say enough about those guys."