The Tiffin Football team entered unchartered waters in 2008, as theDragons competed as a member of the ultra-competitive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for the first time. Under first-year Head Coach Dave Walkosky, the team was good enough to compete against the elite teams in the GLIAC. Unfortunately for the Green & Gold, many of the bright moments were overshadowed by a losing record. The team's lone win came in a four-overtime thriller against Northern Michigan at home in the third week of the season, but the Dragons held late leads in four other games. Those four GLIAC contests were lost by a total of only 10 points, including back-to-back gut-wrenching losses against Michigan Tech (32-28) and Hillsdale (37-36) to close out the season. The Dragons return some key contributors offensively with hopes of adding to the team's win total this fall. Wide receivers Greg Raspberry and Trey Williams will look to continue the team's aerial success. Raspberry returns for his senior season after finishing second on the team in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns in 2008 (59 receptions, 574 yards, 5 TD), while Williams (50 receptions, 556 yards, 2 TD) was third in the same categories. Tiffin averaged an impressive 285 yards per game through the air in the run-and-shoot offense last season and averaged 19.5 points per game.
On defense, the Dragons will look to wreak havoc on the opposition and create turnovers. Linemen Wyatt Thames and John Pemberton will spearhead the front line and put pressure on the quarterback. Thames, a senior, had 4.5 sacks during the 2008 campaign, while Pemberton saw limited duty as a freshman, recording 16 tackles with half a sack.
After graduating a trio of top notch linebackers in Parris Burt, Drew Douthit, and Steven Yarbrough, the Dragons have found a new leader in junior college transfer Moses Kato (City College of San Francisco). Kato will be joined by two newcomers - All-State freshman David Pickerel and All-Region honoree Josh Bakker. The three linebackers highlight a group of 31 new signings for the Dragons program this year, one of the strongest recruiting classes in years. Another top addition to the team this year is kicker Boris Bede, whose range should give the Dragons an offensive weapon on special teams.Rounding out the defense, the defensive backfield will see some key letterwinners back as well, as seniors
Jackson Davis, Rahsan Wilson, and Chris Evans return for their final year of eligibility. Juniors Arthur Allen, DeJuan Graham and Courtney Embry will also be back to help improve a defense that recorded eight
interceptions during last fall and allowed only 205 yards passing per game. Allen tied for the team lead with two interceptions and six passes defended, while Graham had 48 tackles with three deflections and Embry
contributed 22 tackles with a pair of deflections.