The Game
70 days is all that spans the length of an 11-week college football season. 70 days since the Oilers kicked off in the season-opener against Truman State back on Sep. 2 in Donnell Stadium. On Saturday, Nov. 11, the 2023 regular-season will come to an end in the same place it began for the Oilers as Findlay welcomes unbeaten and #14 ranked Tiffin University for a noon kickoff. The rivalry game will be the 32nd meeting between the two schools, which are separated by just 36 miles.
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Tickets for Tiffin at Findlay
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Video streaming of the contest will be produced by PulseTV and streamed on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
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Findlay Oilers (7-3, 6-2 G-MAC)
2023 Findlay Football Coaching Staff
Last Saturday against Ashland, the Oilers dropped a heartbreaker in one of the best Division II games of the season, falling by a score of 37-35 in Jack Miller Stadium in four overtimes, the longest game in program history in terms of overtimes. While that win knocked Findlay out of the race for the G-MAC title, there is no time to sulk as the Orange and Black will take on their first top-25 opponent of the season and NW Ohio rival, the Tiffin Dragons. Throw the records out the window for a game like this because both teams are sure to bring their best as bragging rights are on the line.
Taking on a high power offense like the Dragons will bring into Donnell on Saturday, the Oilers are going to need their defense to continue playing like they have all year. Findlay ranks second in the G-MAC in scoring defense, allowing just 17.3 points per game, and is also second in the league at 264.8 yards per game allowed, just a single yard behind Tiffin which leads the league in that category. Where Findlay's unit has shined is in its run defense where the team gives up just 68.3 yards per game. That number leads the G-MAC and is fourth-best in Division II. However, the cliche of "something has to give" will be in full effect on Saturday as Tiffin boasts the league's best rushing offense and fifth-best rush offense in the country, averaging 265 yards on the ground.
A stout defense has given the Oilers control of the ball for much of the season, leading to an average of 33:31 time of possession for Findlay, the best in the G-MAC and fourth-best in the country.
Leading Findlay's offense is senior quarterback
Alec Bornhorst who leads the G-MAC with 258 yards of individual total offense per game. A prooven runner and passer, the Gainesville, Ga. native has thrown for 2,080 yards and 17 touchdowns on a league-best 181 completions and 65% completion percentage. In the previous five weeks, Bornhorst has been the QB Findlay had hoped for when he transferred in from Miami (OH), throwing for multiple touchdowns in each of those games and turning the ball over just twice. On the ground, he can be a difference maker, as well, rushing the ball 100 times this year for an even 500 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has a receiving touchdown to his credit which, in a rivalry game like this, could be a factor as coaches empty the playbook.
On the receiving end of the ball all year has been the Oilers' tough tight end,
Mike Rigerman, who is second in the conference with 669 receiving yards and tied for second in the league with eight receiving touchdowns. This Saturday, the Arcade, NY native has a chance to etch his name in the Oilers' record book as he needs just 29 yards to pass Darrell Ramsey (1996-99) as the program's all-time leader in receiving yards by a tight end. Rigerman currently sits at 1,737 yards for his career. Another big factor through the air is senior
Cam Childers who has shown flases of brilliance this season and last week, had his best game of the year posting ten receptions, 174 yards, and a touchdown.
Saturday will feature the two best stables of running backs in the G-MAC as Tiffin and Findlay will trot out multiuple backs that would start for any other team in the league. For the Oilers, they will be lead by the 1-2 punch of
Garret Clark and
Brian Benson. Healthy again, Clark will be playing in his sixth game of the year. To date, the Strongsville, Ohio native has 74 carries for 405 yards and a touchdown and is picking up 5.3 yards per carry. His backup is the league's all-time rushing leader in
Brian Benson who has 3,404 yards in his time at UF. Benson is clibming the all-time rushing ladder at Findlay, as well. He is fourth on the program's all-time rushing list and needs just 17 yards to pass Daiquone Ford (2012-15) for third all-time.
Tasked with slowing down the sixth-best scoring offense in the country, the Oilers' defense is led by sophomore
Sam Weihrauch with 69 tackles including 12 tackles-for-loss, tied for third-most in the conference.
Johnny Harris and
Romaro Warren Jr. had 61 and 52 tackles, respectively, and round out one of the most talented group of linebackers in the conference. Behind them, senior
Jordan Grimes has put together a career year, making 35 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, and five interceptions, all of which are new career-highs for the Indianapolis, Indiana product. On the defensive line,
Grey Brancifort has 42 tackles, 10.5 tackles-for-loss, and leads the team with 4.0 sacks.
Jack Morrison has also been impactful, making 33 stops including 1.5 sacks. He is second on the team with six quarterback hurries.
About the Opponent – #14 Tiffin Dragons (10-0, 8-0 G-MAC)
Picked second in the preseason poll and coming off of a 6-5 (6-2 G-MAC) season a year ago, the Tiffin Dragons, who have flirted with national prowess in recent years, are officially on the map. Ranked #14 in the country in the latest D2 poll, the Dragons are sitting at 10-0 and are looking for their second undefeated regular season in their last four tries, the last coming in a shortened 2021 spring season where the team went 6-0.
Already tying the program record for wins in a season, it would be hard to argue that this isn't the best version of the Green and Gold in the history of the program. The Dragons have scored 46.3 points per game this year, which is currently the best in school history, and are allowing just 14.3 points per game, the fewest points per game allowed in a season, excluding the shortened spring of 2021 season, since 2006 when they gave up just 14.0 ppg.
At first glance, this version of the Dragons does not have a single standout player that will take over the game. Different that in years past, the 2023 version of the team is built with depth across the field, making the statistics spread evenly around rather than all being collected by a single player.
Nowhere is that more evident than at the running back position where the Dragons boast four legitimate threats at the position, all of which played in the team's most recent victory against Ohio Dominican. Leading that group is sophomore Ronald Blackman who is getting his first real crack at playing time at TU. The Gahanna, Ohio native is second in the league with 862 yards on 122 carries, rushing for seven touchdowns. His backup is a two time third-team all-G-MAC performer, senior Devin Nelson who has 96 totes for 628 yards and six touchdowns and is now over 1,600 yards in his career. Tyrese Banks-Dorn, 78 carries for 609 yards, and Carson Gresock, 71 carries for 426 yards, round out the stout group of backs that is picking up 6.9 yards per carry this season. Banks-Dorn has been a big threat in the red zeon as he is second in the G-MAC with 11 rushing touchdowns.
Slinging the pigskin this year has been a graduate transfer who found Tiffin after stints at the University of North Texas and Eastern New Mexico University. Kason Martin, who started last year for the Division II ENMU Greyhounds, has completed 134 of 209 passes for 1,671 yards and 16 touchdowns. His strength has been a lack of turnovers, tossing just four interceptions this season, tied for the fewest in the G-MAC. Martin has suffered injury and, despite being listed as the starter this week, has not played significantly in four weeks. His backup has been no slouch as junior Keegan Ray has stepped in and thrown for 631 yards and six touchdowns including a 16-for-24, 260 yard, three touchdown performance last week against ODU.
Senior Josh Lewis has been the best wide receiver this season, catching 39 balls for 648 yards, third-most in the G-MAC, and eight touchdowns for the Dragons. He has had at least one touchdown reception in seven of the team's ten games this year. The other big threat has been senior Jalen Thomas who's hauled in 26 receptions for 381 yards and five scores. Speaking to the team's depth, there are two other receivers with more than 200 yards receiving and in total, there are ten players who have tallied a receiving touchdown this season.
After losing a dominant player like Charlie Cleveland, the 2022 G-MAC Defensive Lineman of the Year and TU all-time tackles-for-loss and sacks leader, the Dragons defense has actually gotten more stingy, picking up five more tackles-for-loss this season, through ten games, than the team had in 13 games last season.
That side of the ball has been led by linebacker Zeke Brown and graduate defensive back, former Kentucky Wesleyan Panther, and two-time all-G-MAC performer Ramond Jackson. Each of those players has tallied a team-high 49 tackles. On the defensive line, senior Robert Holtz leads the team with 11.5 tackles for loss while fellow lineman Antonio Berry also has double-digit TFL with ten. A big part of the Dragons' success this year has been takeaways as they lead the G-MAC with 23 turnovers gained. Tiffin has ten players who have recorded an interception this year and are led by second year starter Chucky Lewis who has four and a team-high six pass breakups.
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