INSTITUTE, W.Va. – On Saturday, Notre Dame College was all over the field, getting five touchdowns from the offense, two interceptions on defense and a score on special teams. The West Virginia State University defense allowed the Falcons to score each time they reached the red zone. NDC won the game by a score of 48-13.

"That's the game we were looking for all season. We finally had a game where we were clicking on all cylinders," said quarterback Chris Brimm.

Brimm completed four passes on the first drive of the game, finding CJ Kiss (12 yards), Michael Solomon (23 yards) and Jeremy Hamilton (26 yards). NDC would get to the West Virginia State 3-yard line, before moving back due to a false start penalty. Cameron Shirkey would enter the game to send the ball through the uprights and give NDC three points.

The Notre Dame defense forced the Yellow Jackets to punt and the offense started the next drive on their own 20. In just three plays, Brimm sent the ball over the top of the Yellow Jacket defenders to find Andre Allen Jr. in the middle of the field. Allen used his speed to separate himself and complete the 80-yard touchdown. NDC led 10-0 with four minutes to go in the first quarter.

After his first career reception, Allen finished with three catches for 99 yards.

"Offensive explosion," head coach Garrett Mack said. "I was really impressed with those guys today. A lot of different guys touching the ball, playmakers at all different positions doing stuff. When we go back and look at the tape, it's not just numbers coming from one guy. It was nice to see those guys have a breakout game."

Still in the first stanza, West Virginia State was driving and ready to take a shot down the field. Entering NDC territory, Yellow Jackets' quarterback Donovan Riddick sent a ball down the right side of the field, defended well by NDC's Tavon Hooks. The catch was not completed when the ball popped out and into the air, falling into the arms of Wendell McClain for the interception. He returned the ball 57 yards, to set the Falcons' offense up in a good spot.

Notre Dame found more success through the air as Brimm found Hamilton for 30 yards. And on the first play of the second quarter, on the goal line, Brimm took the snap and immediately followed the linemen into the endzone, giving the Falcons 17-0 advantage.

The Yellow Jackets got on the board with a 61-yard drive over 5:42 of game time. The NDC defense stopped WVSU on the 14-yard line, and they settled for a 30-yard field goal.

West Virginia State would get the ball right back after their defense forced the Falcons into a three-and-out. With the ball and some momentum, they drove down the field and got to the NDC 17, but could only gain five more yards. Brennen Schmitt connected on another field goal, but WVSU still trailed by 11 points, 17-6.

Taking advantage of the Yellow Jackets' inability to get into the endzone and fully shift the momentum, the Falcons put seven more points on the board. With their backs to the wall on 3rd down and nine to go, Brimm unloaded a pass down the left side of the field to Tyshawn Lighty for a 44-yard play. When the offense started to slow and NDC was two yards outside of the endzone, Brimm picked up a low snap, found space and ran in for his second rushing touchdown of the half. That capped an eight play, 72-yard drive. For the first time in his career, Brimm had two rushing touchdowns in a game.

"We felt comfortable today," Brimm said. "We had a great week of practice, so we knew we had to translate that into the game. The offensive line did their thing, the running backs were doing what they were supposed to. All-around effort from the offense."

Both teams punted on their first drive of the second half, but NDC's punter Dominic Buttazzoni pinned W.Va. State inside their own 10. After the NDC defense stepped up, West Virginia State was forced to punt out of the endzone. Schmitt took the snap, and immediately fumbled the ball, allowing McClain to jump on it for the touchdown. Less than five minutes into the second quarter, NDC led 31-6.

"Our defense is playing at a high level right now," Mack said. "The takeaways, another special teams touchdown on the punt, another interception. What we preach is defense is a culture, it's doing the same thing over and over with your effort. Our guys are buying in. Kudos to [defensive coordinator] Jake Chestnut and the defensive staff for getting them to do what we have to do."

Riddick and the Yellow Jackets would respond quickly, on what was probably their most impressive drive of the game. He completed passes of 12 yards, 19, 31, 14, two and five. In four minutes, they went 75 yards down the field to score the first, and only touchdown of the day.

Starting the next drive with 6:31 on the third quarter clock, Brimm and Jay Sharp would steal the show. Once the Falcons got to the Yellow Jackets' 27, Sharp ran for five yards and Jaylen Riley caught the first pass of his career for 11 yards. On 2nd and 6, Brimm dropped back to pass and Sharp was uncovered, made the catch and walked into the endzone. That gave NDC a 38-13 lead.

Tyris Dickerson then entered the game on NDC's next drive. He ran the ball nine times for 54 yards and would score his first touchdown of the season. On that drive, Lighty went up and over a defender to haul in a 45-yard touchdown, as the Falcons went 96 yards down the field.

Lighty had a career-high 99 yards receiving on Saturday.

The Falcons would not let up on defense, getting a stop on fourth down to force a turnover on downs and then, when the Yellow Jackets were driving inside NDC's 10-yard line, Abe Nyang intercepted the ball in the endzone.

Shirkey hit his second field goal of the day, a career-long 43-yard kick. He also put through a career-high six extra points on the day.

Notre Dame's offense put up season-highs in rushing yards (122), receiving yards (349) and yards (471), while also going 6-for-6 in the red zone and was 7-of-12 on third down conversions.

Nathan Moore added to his streak of double-digit tackles, as he has had at least 10 in every game this season. On Saturday, he recorded 14 tackles, two tackles for loss and a half sack. Teddy Tiokeng added seven tackles and one and-a-half tackles for loss.

"I'm just trying to go out there and do my responsibility and read my keys, make the plays I'm supposed to make," Moore mentioned. "I don't play selfish. Our defensive line played great, our defensive backs made some great plays. [Defensive Coordinator] Chestnut put in position to make some great plays. It's a team effort. I thought, defensively, we took that next step to where we have to be."

The Falcons come home next weekend for Homecoming. NDC takes on the University of Charleston, on Oct. 1, at noon.