Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa--The Drake Bulldogs came from behind to defeat Grand View 28-21 in overtime Saturday night before a crowd of 4,215 in the home opener at Drake Stadium. Drake evened its record at 1-1, while Grand View fell to 1-2.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 21 with eight seconds left in regulation when quarterback Mike Piatkowski (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to running back Nathan Paddock (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit West) on a 4th-and-goal play.
Piatkowski struck again on the first possession of overtime, finding wide receiver Drew Blackmon (Florissant, Mo./St. Louis University High) for an 11-yard score to give Drake a 28-21 lead.
The Bulldogs' defense came up big on Grand View's overtime possession by forcing a fumble on 3rd-and-5 from the Drake 20-yard line. Linebacker Travis Merritt (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) stripped the ball from the Vikings' Colt Matthews, and it was recovered by defensive end Brandon Coleman (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) at the 10-yard line to seal the victory and set off a wild celebration on the field.
"I really believe in Mike," said head coach Chris Creighton. "I think he's a winner. I credit Grand View and the job they did playing and coaching. They should be very proud and I don't know why it ended up the way it did. I just hope they don't hang their heads because they should be very proud."
Grand View outgained Drake 381 yards to 369, while Drake managed 20 first downs to Grand View's 17. The Bulldogs converted 5 of 13 (38.5%) third-down opportunities, while the Vikings converted 8 of 17 (47.1%).
It was just the third overtime game for Drake, and first since Oct. 25, 2003, a 51-45 loss at Valparaiso. Drake won its first overtime game 49-42 on Oct. 12, 2002 vs. Albany at Drake Stadium.
Piatkowski finished the night with 333 yards on 25-of-40 passing, with three touchdowns and one interception, which came on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half. It was the second-highest yardage total of Piatkowski's career (340 vs. Missouri in 2009) and the three touchdown passes tied a career high (fourth time).
"We had a great game plan tonight," said Piatkowski. "We only executed on the first drive and the last drive, so we need to work on our execution. The game plan was set up; we just didn't make plays until the end."
In the first half Piatkowski moved into fifth place in career passing yards by a Bulldog, eclipsing current Drake wide receivers coach Jeff Martin (4,365; 1973-76). Piatkowski entered the game 171 yards behind Martin, and now has 4,527 for his career.
Blackmon led all receivers with 118 yards and a career-high two touchdowns, while tying a career high with nine receptions.
"We came in the same year and we have a great connection together," Piatkowski said of Blackmon. "We have a great connection with everyone, but Drew steps up, he stepped up tonight and made some great plays. So it's not like no one else could do it, he was just the target tonight."
Junior wide receiver Joey Orlando (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) caught four passes for 66 yards, running back Nathan Paddock caught four for 62 and junior wide receiver Nick Rosa (Owasso, Okla./Owasso) snagged three for 36 yards. Fifth-year senior Pat Cashmore (Kansas City, Mo./St. Pius X) led Drake in rushing with 45 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
Defensively, the Bulldogs were led by sophomore linebacker Travis Merritt (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) with 10 tackles (5 solo), followed by senior defensive tackle David Witkiewicz (Hales Corners, Wisc./Whitnall) with nine (5 solo), including one sack (-7).
"I'm proud of the guys for fighting and finishing," Creighton said. "In the offseason the guys talked about finishing everything: Finish every drill, finish every rep, finish the week. And obviously we did that. We finished."
Drake was unable to take advantage of several opportunities earlier in the second half. The Bulldogs recovered a Grand View fumble at the Vikings' 22-yard line with 5:22 to play in the game, trailing 21-14, but turned it back over on downs.
Grand View had broken a 14-14 tie with 10:28 to play in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Greg Charles to wide receiver Darin Davis. The breakthrough for Grand View came after threatening on its two previous possessions, but coming up empty.
Drake's special teams and defense made big plays on back-to-back Grand View possessions in the third quarter to keep the score tied. The Vikings took the opening possession of the second half and drove to the Bulldogs' 3-yard line, when Erik Moore's 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Drake's junior cornerback Dustin Davis (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Abraham Lincoln).
After a three-and-out by Drake, Grand View again moved inside the Bulldogs' 5-yard line, but was stopped on 4th-and-goal from the inside the 1-yard line to keep the scored tied at 14.
The score was tied at 14 at halftime after an entertaining second quarter of big plays by both offenses.
Grand View broke a 7-7 tie at the 8:18 mark of the quarter when quarterback Greg Charles connected with wide receiver Darin Davis, who broke several tackles along his own sideline near midfield and turned it into a 69-yard scoring play.
Drake struck back quickly on the first play of its following possession. Piatkowski hit Blackmon in stride at the Grand View 30-yard line and outraced the defense to make it a 70-yard touchdown play to tie the score at 14 with 8:02 remaining in the half.
The Bulldogs looked crisp right out of the gate, scoring on their first possession. Drake took the opening kickoff and drove 68 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. Cashmore scored on a 5-yard run to cap the 6:09 drive.
This was the second meeting for Drake with Grand View since the NAIA Vikings' program began in 2008. The Bulldogs won the first meeting 22-0 on Sept. 5, 2009.
