Centre fell behind early but came back with 34 unanswered points in a 34-7 win over Defiance in non-conference football action Saturday in Defiance, Ohio.

With the victory, head coach Andy Frye secured a spot atop Centre's all-time wins list, surpassing Joe McDaniel, who he tied after the Colonels' win over Hanover last week. Frye's career record now stands at 102-60 over 17 seasons at Centre.

Defiance struck early when Garrett Teague connected with Darius Harper on a 44-yard touchdown pass, but it would prove to be the highlight of the day for the Yellow Jackets. Those would be the only points the Centre defense would allow on the day, and the Colonels went on to take the lead for good with a pair of Heath Haden (Kingsport, Tenn.) touchdown passes by the end of the quarter.

Overall, Haden connected on 14 of 26 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns with Max Mazza (Cincinnati, Ohio) being on the end of five of those receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown. A week after leading the Colonels with 165 yards on the ground, Nolan Coulter (Knoxville, Tenn.) again led the way with 150 rushing yards.

After the Colonels found themselves trailing in the first quarter, they were able to answer right away with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Haden to Blake Martin (Lexington, Ky.) to cap a seven-play, 58-yard drive. Before the first quarter was over, Haden found Mazza on a 47-yard touchdown strike to give the Colonels a 14-7 lead which they would not relinquish.

Centre gradually built on its lead with a pair of Alex Ward (Murray, Ky.) field goals in the second quarter before capitalizing on a Nate Letton (Lexington, Ky.) interception with a touchdown pass to Brandon Kamp (Cincinnati, Ohio) that made the score 27-7 at halftime.

The Colonels kept Defiance off the scoreboard the rest of the way while also providing the only second half score when Matt Farrell (Cincinnati, Ohio) punched in a two-yard touchdown run to finish an 18-play, 61-yard drive that ran 6:46 off the clock late in the third quarter.

For the game, Centre had a balanced offensive attack, gaining 245 yards on the ground and 200 through the air while holding Defiance to 284 total yards. Defensively, Alex Mattingly (Louisville, Ky.) led the way with nine total tackles while Anthony Kersey (Winchester, Ky.) had two tackles for loss to lead a Centre team that had seven total tackles for loss.

With the victory, Centre improves to 2-0 on the season and evens the all-time series with Defiance at 1-1 following a 19-13 defeat in 1953. Next week, the Colonels return to the road with a trip to face Washington & Lee at 7 p.m. on Saturday.