For the third week in a row Tiffin University has played a team ranked in the top 25 of the Division 2 football poll. The Dragons, still looking for their first win, put up a good fight on Homecoming Saturday, but couldn’t overcome the 6 turnovers as the visiting #24 Saginaw Valley State left Frost-Kalnow Stadium with a 40-21 victory.  

The Dragons and the Cardinals traded punts after their first possessions of the game. TU started their second possession at their own 27 yard line and quickly got the ball to midfield after a SVSU penalty. Freshman quarterback Nate Scully was picked off on the next play to give the Cardinals the ball back. However, the Dragons defense forced a three and out to get the offense back on the field. On the next series, the Dragons picked up two first downs before Scully was hit in the backfield and fumbled the ball in the process. SVSU picked up the fumble to give the Cardinals the ball at the TU 40 yard line. Saginaw Valley would use 5 plays to pick up the 40 yards they needed capped by a Charles Dowdell 14 yard pass to Nick Gallina in the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 14:54 left to play in the 2nd quarter.

The Dragons next drive again ended in an interception, but one play later TU’s Mike Virgin picked off Dowdell’s pass to get the ball back for the Dragons. TU put together what looked to be another promising drive, picking up 37 yards in 10 plays, before Scully threw another interception to give the Cardinals the ball back at their 14 yard line.

Saginaw Valley again turned the turnover into a touchdown, this time using an eight play 86 yard drive that ended in a Brandon Hayes 12 yard rush for a touchdown. The Dragons’ Chris Evans blocked the Cardinals’ extra point attempt to keep the lead at 13 for SVSU.

TU’s turnover nightmare in the first half continued on the first play of the next drive, as Scully’s pass was intercepted by Ja’Vae Ingraham. The Cardinals were again able to turn the Dragons turnover into a touchdown when Xavier Walker ran into the end zone from one yard out on the fourth play of the drive to give Saginaw Valley a 20-0 lead with 2:28 remaining in the second half.

Scully was able to shake off the interceptions to lead the Dragons down the field for a touchdown to cut down the deficit before the half. The drive ended when the Dragons elected to go for a touchdown on fourth and goal from the two yard line and Scully threw a two yard pass to Trey Williams for a touchdown with no time remaining in the first half. Scully completed four passes on the drive. Williams caught two and David Singleton caught two. The Dragons also used two rushes by Alvin McKight and one by Brett Koepp to help gain yards on the drive.

The Dragons got a turnover to start the second half as Arthur Allen picked off Dowdell to set up good field position at SVSU’s 13 yard line. Three plays later Scully hit Singleton in the end zone and Boris Bede’s PAT cut the Cardinals’ lead to 20-14.

Saginaw Valley would score the next two touchdowns of the game, pushing the lead to 33-14. The Dragons did score again with 2:48 remaining in the game when Scully found Greg Raspberry in the end zone from 11 yards out to make it 33-21. The Cardinals would score the last touchdown of the game and leave Tiffin with a 40-21 victory.

Despite the outcome, Dragons Head Coach Dave Walkosky still saw some positives.  

“I thought we were in it the whole game. We put a freshman in some tough situations having to throw the ball a lot,” he said. “I thought there were a lot of brilliant flashes, but that doesn’t win football games. That’s part of being a young team. They (SVSU) are a strong football team and they're going to win a lot of games.”

Scully had 207 yards passing to lead the Dragons offense. Singleton caught 10 passes for 98 yards while Williams had eight catches for 46 yards. Moses Kato led the Dragons defense, making 6 tackles while Rahsan Wilson had 5.5 tackles.