Dragons spoil Findlay's perfect season on final play

FINDLAY – Brett Ekkens said there was no grand speech, no big message that he gave to his offense.The Tiffin University head football coach had just watched Jayden Farmer plow into the end zone to give unbeaten University of Findlay a 21-17 lead in the final minute of regulation.Things got even more daunting on the kickoff, when the Dragons were called for holding, and their offense was forced to start from its 6-yard line.Fifty-four seconds remained."There wasn't much to be said," Ekkens said. "We knew exactly what we needed to do."Ekkens passed on dramatics.He left that to his players.Dragons quarterback Alex Johnson promptly marched Tiffin deep into Findlay territory. A pass over the middle to Josiah Raber pushed the Dragons to midfield, and a screen to Ronald Blackman went for 19 yards to the 33.Two more completions by Johnson had the Dragons at the UF 13 as the clock moved under 10 seconds.After an incomplete pass, three seconds remained.Before the final play, Johnson went to receiver Jaedyn McKinstry, who had already made a terrific catch for a touchdown earlier in the fourth."Alex told me he was gonna put it up high," McKinstry said. "He told me to go get it."Johnson took the shotgun snap and dropped back a few steps, and fired the ball down the middle for his 6-foot-6 receiver."That's my last collegiate throw, right there," said Johnson, a senior.McKinstry, with a man on him, made a leaping catch and crashed to the end zone turf.Touchdown. Tiffin won, 23-21."He's made that play in practice 100 times," Ekkens said. "It's one thing to do it there, it's another to do it out here today.The Dragons, who took No. 1 Ferris State to the limit in Week 2 and have had a number of heartbreaking losses – including two in overtime – ended the season at 7-4."It was a real testament to everybody that was on the field, the whole team, their belief," Ekkens said.Johnson, who was last year's G-MAC Offensive Player of the Year and who started his career at the University of Washington, finished 19-of-31 passing for 251 yards in his last collegiate start. He threw three touchdowns and was intercepted once."That's a good quarterback, and they made some plays," said Findlay coach Kory Allen. "Hats off to them for winning the game."McKinstry, also a senior, finished with three catches for 35 yards. "I cannot speak more highly of Jaedyn, man," Johnson said. "He's one of the best receivers I've ever played with."Findlay came into the game 10-0 and No. 8 in Division II. It had clinched a share of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference by beating Ashland last week. It also came in having secured a playoff berth.But the loss to the Dragons –- who have beaten Findlay three straight times – still stung.Findlay was going for its first undefeated regular season since 1997, and an outright league title. Now, UF will share it with Ashland, which defeated Lake Erie, 34-14 Saturday."That's the fourth week in a row that we've had an absolute battle," said Allen, referencing his teams wins over Ohio Dominican, Northwood and Ashland in the last three weeks, "and we came up on the short end of the stick."UF took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 38-yard Zachary Barzd field goal. Tiffin came back when Johnson connected on a 5-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Daniel Seems, and TU led 7-3.With about seven minutes before halftime, the Oilers got an excellent punt from Findlay High graduate Owen Clevenger, and pinned the Dragons on the seven.On the next play, Johnson dropped into the end zone and was tackled by UF's Desmond Brown for a safety.That cut the TU lead to 7-5, and Findlay regained the advantage just before halftime when Barzd connected on a 25-yard field goal.Tiffin tried to drive in the final minute before the break, but Johnson's deep pass was intercepted by Jayon Harvey.Findlay led 8-7 at half.In the third quarter, the Dragons took advantage when Clevenger dropped the snap on a punt, and was tackled at his own 35.That led to Ben Rudolph's 35-yard field goal, and Tiffin went up 10-8 with 4:48 left in the quarter.Findlay came right back, marching 75 yards in six plays. Farmer scored on an 8-yard rush, and – after the point after attempt by Bzard was blocked – Findlay led 14-10.Farmer was tremendous, carrying the ball 34 times for 170 yards and both of the Oilers touchdowns."Farmer is an unbelievable player," Ekkens said. "He runs the ball hard. We've seen that all year, we knew it was gonna be a task to bring him down."But Tiffin had the answer. After a 33-yard run by Tyrese Banks-Dorn set the Dragons up in UF territory early in the fourth quarter, Johnson floated a 12-yard throw to the back of the end zone where McKinstry – heavily covered – hauled in the ball and gave the Dragons a 17-14 edge."We had that play drawn up all week," McKinstry said. "Wanted to get into the red zone before we called it. Got into the perfect situation."Findlay had an opportunity to tie the game on the ensuing offensive possession, but Barzd missed a 44-yard field goal.Tiffin took over with 9:22 remaining, and Blackman raced 27 yards across midfield. That, plus an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Oilers, put TU at the 31.But Findlay's defense held. Banks-Dorn was dropped for a 6-yard loss, pushing Tiffin out of field goal range and eventually forcing a punt with 7½ minutes remaining."That's the No. 1 scoring offense in the league," Allen said. "We knew that was gonna be a tough test. I thought our defense was up to the task."Findlay – with its perfect season now hanging in the balance – turned to Farmer.The tailback carried the ball 10 times in 15 plays as Findlay closed in on a go-ahead touchdown with about a minute to play.With a first and goal at the 5, Farmer got the ball from quarterback Chase Harrison and galloped into the end zone."You can't worry about the clock when you're in that situation," Allen said. "You've got to put the ball in the end zone, and we were able to do that. Unfortunately, we left them just a little bit too much time."For Tiffin, Blackman carried the ball 12 times for 77 yards. Ethan Holbrook caught three passes for 75 yards. On defense, the Dragons' Khris Walton and Uzonna Nzekwe each recorded a sack.For the Oilers, Harrison completed 15-of-21 passes for 171 yards. Brennan Remy caught six passes for 78 yards and Mitch Nielsen – a Tiffin Calvert graduate – hauled in three passes for 42 yards.Findlay linebacker Sam Weihrauch (another Findlay High grad) had a team-leading 11 tackles, including 2½ for a loss. Defensive back Johnny Harris made seven stops (1½ TFL) and broke up a pass.It was another strong effort from the Findlay D.But on this day, it came up a play short."Really, we never lost confidence," said Johnson, who has received some interest from NFL teams. "We always thought we were gonna win this game."For Findlay, it will be focused on winning the next one.UF will host Minnesota State in the first round of Division II playoffs next Saturday."The best part about it is that we have a bounce back," Allen said. "We look forward representing our institution and the G-MAC in the national playoffs."Whoever they give us to play, we're looking forward to a bounce-back week."