FINDLAY, Ohio – In what could be described as an offensive track meet, Tiffin put the finishing touches on a perfect run through the league standings to stand alone at the pinnacle as Great Midwest Athletic Conference team champions on Saturday.
The 21st-ranked Dragons finished the regular season 7-0, earning the title of outright conference champions with a 52-45 victory over Findlay at Donnell Stadium.
The team’s eighth straight win positions Tiffin exceptionally well for the NCAA Selection Show for the Division II Championship bracket. With earned access and no automatic qualifier, the Dragons (9-1, 7-0) figure to represent Super Region 1 in some capacity during the next step of the postseason.
The Selection Show will stream on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. ET live and on demand at NCAA.com.
Tiffin becomes the fourth school in the conference to win a football championship in as many years. First-year head coach Cris Reisert and his staff led the football program to perfection in TU’s second season as a league member.
What started out as a day with many question marks ended with no speculation as Tiffin’s victory ended any doubt of a co-champion or even tri-champion scenario with Findlay and Ohio Dominican in play if the dominoes fell just right.
QB Nick Watson threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns while RB JaQuan Hardy had another monster game on the ground with 200+ yards rushing and a score.
Two different TU receivers also had 100-yard days, Stanley Jackson Jr. and Gavin Woods, while Carrington Contee led his team in tackles and was responsible for the game’s only turnover.
Findlay rolled up 529 yards of total offense to Tiffin’s 528. The Dragons held an 18-point lead on the ensuing drive of the third quarter as Devin Butler cashed in from 44 yards out on a run.
With the Oilers trailing by a significant margin, QB Matt Winzeler went to work authoring scoring drives of 79, 65 and 83 yards in the second half. Winzeler’s fourth touchdown of the afternoon brought his team to within 52-38.
The Oilers would outscore the Dragons, 15-0, in the fourth quarter.
UF RB Derek Lynch scored with five minutes left in regulation to make it a one-score game, but Tiffin’s Hardy ran for 10+ yards on consecutive plays to eat up some clock and allow the team to set up in victory formation.
Tiffin is ranked at No. 8 in the Super Region 1 rankings while Ohio Dominican, which concluded the regular season with a 17-7 win on the road at Hillsdale, is ranked at No. 10.
The conference will also make an announcement next week with the Great Lakes Valley Conference regarding representatives for the America’s Crossroads Bowl in Hobart, Ind., in December.