Tiffin University (6-0, 4-0 G-MAC) forced 5 turnovers and had 5 sacks as the Dragons remained unbeaten in the conference with a 35-21 win over Hillsdale.
The TU defense faced a strong ground game by the Chargers, who ran the ball 45 times for 232 yards but also created numerous opportunities for the offense with 4 interceptions, a fumble recovery, and 5 sacks.
The Chargers established the ground game on their first drive, eating up nearly 7:00 and scoring after a 2-yard TD rush to cap a 79-yard drive.
Tiffin responded immediately with its own 75-yard drive, mixing passing and rushing before Ronald Blackman found an opening up the middle to scamper 21 yards for a score with 4:41 left in the first quarter to make it 7-7.
TU's defense then held the Chargers as Hillsdale had two penalties and a sack by TU's Ramond Jackson that forced a punt from the end zone. Blackman then blocked the punt and scooped it up in the end zone for a special teams score that made it 14-7 with 1:37 left in the opening quarter.
Tiffin continued to get in an offensive rhythm early in the second quarter, taking over near midfield before Kason Martin hit Josh Lewis on a big 31-yard touchdown strike at the 11:25 mark to make it 21-7, Dragons.
Hillsdale did not back down, however, responding on its next possession with a 70-yard drive. Quarterback Jake Burger had a big 38-yard run during the drive, setting up a 7-yard TD run by Michael Herzog at the 8:44 mark that made it 21-14.
Tiffin's offense stepped it up on its next possession. The Dragons converted two fourth-down plays to keep the 75-yard drive moving and finished it off with a 16-yard TD pass from Martin to Will Linkhart that pushed the score to 28-14.
After halftime, both teams continued to emphasize the ground game. Hillsdale made it a one-score game with an 89-yard drive on its first drive of the second half with Herzog making tough runs throughout the drive before scoring on a 9-yard run that made it 28-21.
After a three-and-out by the Chargers, TU got its final score when Carson Gresock rumbled up the middle for a 12-yard run that capped a 61-yard drive at the 13:23 mark of the fourth quarter and made the score 35-21.
Hillsdale had two more possessions in the final quarter but both drives ended with TU interceptions, one by Chucky Lewis and another by Ramond Jackson.
Overall the Dragons had 439 yards of offense while also benefiting from 75 yards in Hillsdale penalties. Tiffin also converted 5 of 6 fourth-down conversions.
Jackson led the defense with 11 tackles, a sack, and an interception, while DJ Harris had 10 stops with 2 sacks and a forced fumble.
Zeke Brown and Patrick Tueimeh had 7 tackles while Jesse Connell also had 6 stops. Marshawn Mankins and Antonio O'Berry added sacks, while Lewis had 2 interceptions with Jackson and Brown also getting an interception apiece.
Martin connected on 17 of 26 passes for 268 yards and 2 TDs. He had no interceptions and only one sack along with 20 yards rushing. Gresock led the TU rushers with 67 yards while Blackman had 63, while Lewis led the receivers with 75 yards and 53 more kick return yards. Linkhart and Jalen Thomas had 69 yards apiece receiving while Tyrese Banks-Dorn had 25 yards rushing and 34 yards receiving.