Joe Winters

TIFFIN, Ohio -- Tiffin's offensive forte proved to be better than the Miners' Saturday night, as the Dragons rolled up 406 yards on the ground and pulled away from UMR in the final 15 minutes for a 58-32 win in the season opener for both teams. While Miner quarterback Joe Winters threw for 402 yards -- the most ever by a UMR signalcaller in his first game as a Miner -- UMR was playing from behind all night and couldn't establish its running game against the Dragons as it had only 33 yards on the ground.

Tiffin scored on its first two possessions to grab the lead and while the Miners were able to answer scores for much of the night, they couldn't overtake the hosts. UMR got on the scoreboard when Winters connected with Ashton Gronewold for an 11-yard scoring pass early in the second quarter, then after Austin Clopton scored the first of his four touchdowns on the evening to make it 21-7, Winters hit Brandon Landry for a 22-yard scoring pass. The teams traded scores again before the end of the half, with Landry -- who had seven catches for 129 yards on the night -- hauling in a 29-yard scoring reception with 22 seconds to play in the half to make it 28-21. UMR drove 76 yards to the Tiffin four-yard line to open the second half, but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Tim Valencia to trim the margin to four. Tiffin went back up by 11 on another score by Clopton, then the Miners cut the lead the three at 35-32 when Winters hit Gronewold on a nine-yard scoring pass and Mike Greaving with a pass on the two-point conversion. However, those would be the last points the Miners would score as the Dragons rattled off 23 unanswered points to pull away.

Quarterback Donnie Johnson, who had 185 yards rushing (Clopton added 120), scored from 31 yards away to make it a 10-point game, then a fumble on the ensuing kickoff led to a 22-yard field goal. Winters threw an interception on the first play of the next possession, allowing the Dragons to put some space between themselves and UMR when Cloptop scored from three yards away. Freshman wide receiver Nathan Binder also went over the 100-yard mark in receptions Saturday with 109 on seven catches, while Gronewold caught five balls for 82 and the two scores.

UMR will be idle until Sept. 9, when it travels to Cape Girardeau to face NCAA Division I-AA Southeast Missouri State in a 6 p.m. game.