SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Another home game, another win for No. 21 Notre Dame College. The Falcons are now 24-1 since the 2018 season when playing at Mueller Field. Saturday was no different as NDC hosted Wheeling University in the 2022 home opener, and walked away with a 27-14 victory.

NDC quarterback Chris Brimm became the program leader in career touchdowns responsible for (91 passing, nine rushing) with 100 and total career offensive yards with 10,002 during the contest.

"It's definitely a big accomplishment, just a testament of not only my hard work, but everyone around me the past few years," Brimm said. "We just have to keep it rolling."

Head coach Garrett Mack also picked up his first win as the head coach of the program.

"Everyone always says, a win is a win," Mack mentioned. "I was impressed with how our guys came out, I think they really stepped up to the challenge of being physical and doing those types of things on the field…I thought we showed a lot of growth from all three of those phases and next week, hopefully, we can grow a little bit more."

Notre Dame did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard. This time, special teams stepped up less than a minute into the game. Wheeling's punter Matt Greenwood was looking to send the first punt of the game away, but sophomore Wendell McClain blocked it, almost immediately off the foot. Junior Isaiah Stephens scooped the ball up and ran 15 yards for a touchdown with 14:04 on the first quarter clock.

"Special teams came out and blocked an early punt. On offense and defense, we did some really good things," Mack said. "There is room for growth, week in and week out. Overall, I was pleased."

On the other side of the field, the Falcons' defense needed to step up quickly as Wheeling's Chris Canaday returned the next kickoff 94 yards to NDC's 6-yard line. The Cardinals' drive then started with a delay of game penalty, moving them back five yards, and ended when the defense stopped Sy Alli on fourth down at the goal line.

After both teams punted, NDC's offense took the field and put seven more points on the scoreboard. Sophomore Jay Sharp ran for 12 yards and on the second play of the drive, Brimm found junior Napoleon Harris across the middle of the field. A couple Wheeling players tripped at mid-field and then Harris fought through defenders near the goal line to get into the endzone for a 63-yard TD.

Harris finished the day with a career-high 121 receiving yards.

An illegal block in the back on the kickoff, pinned Wheeling at their own 3-yard line. Eli Young came up big for the Cardinals, getting them out of a dangerous situation by running 14 yards on the first play of the drive. He would finish the drive by breaking through the middle of the NDC defense for a 74-yard dash to pay dirt. Wheeling trailed by a touchdown, 14-7, with 4:57 to go in the first.

"Defensively, on some of the plays they got us on, we just have to make the play, very simple," Mack explained. "We're an aggressive style defense. We just have to make the play when it is there in front of us, execute what we have to do."

However, the teams were not done scoring in the opening stanza. In one of NDC's longest drives of the first half (seven plays-57 yards), junior Cameron Shirkey connected on his first field goal of the season, from 28 yards away. Tight ends CJ Kiss (42-yard reception) and Reece Perkins (16-yard reception) were the highlights of the drive.

At the end of the first, NDC led 17-7, and neither team would score again until late in the second quarter. The defenses stepped up as NDC punted three times in the second, Wheeling punted twice and the Falcons' defense forced and recovered a fumble of Wheeling's quarterback Javon Davis.

The Falcons got the ball with just under four minutes to go before halftime. On the second play of the drive sophomore Idris Lawrence broke free for a 44-yard run to get NDC to Wheeling's 14. After the drive stalled, Skirkey was called upon again and put a 37-yard field goal through the uprights. The Falcons led 20-7 at the half.

Notre Dame's second drive of the second half featured a little bit of everything. It began with a 15-yard reception by Harris on the right side of the field. Two plays later, an unnecessary roughness penalty was called on Wheeling for an NDC first down. Two plays after that, a pass interference call gave NDC another first down. At Wheeling's 18-yard line, Brimm sent a pass over the middle to Harris, who jumped in an attempt to bring the ball down. Harris was hit hard and WU's JR Atkinson was ejected for targeting. On the next play, Wheeling was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. After all of that, Lawrence was given the ball and ran to the left for a four-yard touchdown, giving the Falcons a 27-7 lead, with 6:58 to go in the third.

Lawrence finished with 97 rushing yards and that touchdown.

"Our offense has a lot of playmakers," Mack said. "You're looking at guys who can do a lot of things with the ball in their hands. They're young and haven't had a ton of experience prior to this year. We're just trying to get the ball in their hands and get comfortable with the ball so when you get to big games, it's clicking."

Near the end of the third and into the fourth, Wheeling put together a solid 10 play, 50-yard drive. But once Wheeling got to the NDC three-yard line, the NDC defense put up the stop sign. Davis threw incomplete passes on third down and fourth down to turn the ball over.

The Cardinals had many opportunities in the game, and finally put another touchdown on the board with 3:03 remaining. To cap a drive that went 62 yards and lasted over five minutes of game time, Davis scrambled and found Canaday in the endzone, through Notre Dame coverage.

Wheeling ended the game 3-of-17 on third down conversions and 1-of-4 on red zone chances.

"Defensively, last week, we didn't play our best brand of football," Nathan Moore said. "This week in practice, I had the mindset of high energy, flying around, make plays. I thought we did that pretty well today."

Brimm went 15-for-29 with 264 passing yards and a touchdown. On the defensive side, Moore had 10 tackles, sophomore Cael Bright added seven while Jack Kosko, Antoine Holloway II and Davonte Murray all had five. Senior Dominic Buttazzoni punted the ball away seven times for an average of 37.4 yards and pinned the opponent inside the 20-yard line, twice.

Notre Dame will stay home to play West Liberty, on Sept. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.