SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – For the first time in a while West Liberty University entered the third week of a season with an undefeated record, but Notre Dame College entered the game with a 9-0 all-time record versus the Hilltoppers. On Saturday, the Falcons came away victorious with help from "explosive" plays on defense and 179 second half yards on the offensive side to put the game away.

Last week against Wheeling University, a blocked punt was recovery and led to an early touchdown for NDC. This week, on West Liberty's first drive, a bad snap fumble was recovered by the Falcons' Zion Hawkins, who ran 21 yards to give Notre Dame a 7-0 lead.

The Hilltoppers shook off the early turnover and would tie the contest on the next drive. Quarterback Rudy Garcia completed four passes for 55 yards, along with a pass interference call on the Notre Dame defense to move the ball forward. On NDC's 7-yard line, Garcia went back to pass, found a lane up the middle and ran to the endzone, with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter.

NDC would get down the field and retake the lead, early in the second quarter. Idris Lawrence started moving the ball by running for short gains. Then, Chris Brimm began to heat up as he found Rico Small for 12 yards, Reece Perkins for nine yards, Lawrence for 21 yards and Perkins, again, for three. After a WLU unnecessary roughness moved the ball to the 10-yard line, Lawrence ran to the left and crossed the goal line to give NDC a 14-7 lead and cap a 73-yard drive. He has now scored one rushing touchdown in all three games.

The Falcons' defense made another game changing play on West Liberty's next drive. Garcia looked to have hit his intended target, but the receiver was hit hard by Jacalyn Morrison, popping the ball up in the air and allowing Wendell McClain to grab the ball and return it 29 yards for an NDC score. The game was tied after one quarter, but less than five minutes into the second, NDC led 21-7.

"We [the defense] are coming together," McClain mentioned, after his first career interception. "Everyday at practice, we're getting to our spots and making sure we are doing what we need to do to be the best we can be for the weekend."

"The defense was hungry," head coach Garrett Mack said. "You look at what we've done the past two weeks, we've given up explosive plays and it was nice to go out and make explosive plays. It was nice to continue to bring pressure and do what we do. To capitalize on some turnovers and make some plays in the defensive secondary."

The rest of the quarter, neither team could sustain a drive. WLU would score a touchdown after a Notre Dame mistake gave the Hilltoppers the ball in the redzone. A high snap went over punter Dominic Buttazzoni's head and West Liberty began the drive on the five yard line. Garcia sent a pass to Khadeem Richards for the quick score. At halftime, NDC was in front by a score of 21-14.

"In the first half, I thought we did some really good things," Mack mentioned. "I thought we were physical and we were violent on defense. Over the past few weeks, we've gotten more and more dominant in the front. I think we responded better to adverse situations, which is a sign of growth for our program."

The NDC offense, which was held to just 89 total yards in the first half, would put together a second half that resulted in over 170 yards and a touchdown.

Lawrence and the NDC rushing offense looked completely different in the final 30 minutes. The running back corps would run for 82 yards in the second half, thanks in large part to 69 rush yards by Lawrence.

"It came down to a pride factor," Mack mentioned. "Our guys work really hard. Kudos to our offensive line, to Idris and Tyris [Dickerson]. They wanted to be more physical and wanted to be more dominant."

"Staying patient," Lawrence described. "Plays weren't going the way we wanted to go at first, but we regrouped and kept the 'next play' mentality. Just keep working, because big plays will come if you keep doing your job."

The first drive of the third quarter was possibly the most impressive of the day by NDC, as the Falcons went 67 yards in eight plays. Lawrence had two, 13-yard runs during the drive while Brimm completed an 11-yard pass to Michael Solomon and a 19-yard reception by Jeremy Hamilton resulted in a TD with 12:32 on the third quarter clock. Notre Dame led 28-14.

Brimm finished the game with 142 passing yards, finding Hamilton seven times for 52 yards.

The NDC defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out by the West Liberty offense. The Falcons got the ball back, and would drive 55 yards, getting to WLU's 2-yard line. However, multiple penalties pushed the Falcons back and they would call upon Cameron Shirkey to put a 32-yard field goal through the uprights.

On the very next drive, West Liberty drove 55 yards down the field, but the Falcons' defense had the bend-but-don't-break mentality, as they stopped the surging offense. Antoine Holloway II made a tremendous play in the endzone, breaking up a would-be touchdown by diving and knocking the pass away. After a West Liberty field goal, with one minute remaining in the third quarter, NDC led 31-17.

Holloway would make another great play in the fourth quarter, moving quickly into position and intercepting a pass that was floated up near the sideline. That led to an Notre Dame drive that resulted in three more points off the foot of Shirkey.

The defense on both sides stepped up in the fourth, ending multiple drives. With 1:30 remaining in the contest, Garcia sent another ball down the field, which was intercepted by Morrison. That eliminated any hope on the opposing sideline.

For the third consecutive week, Nathan Moore led NDC with 10 tackles and Hawkins had a career-high seven tackles. For the first time this season, the Falcons had multiple interceptions.

Next week, for the first time since Sept. 1, Notre Dame will be on the road. The Falcons travel to West Virginia State for a 12 p.m. matchup on Sept. 24.