Covering the Land of Lincoln

Football Falls at Albion – Hope College

10

Hope
HPE

3-3, 0-2

Albion logo

30

albion
ALB

6-0, 2-0

Hope logo

10

30

Albion logo

Score By Quarters

team

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

f
HPE
Hope
0 3 0 7 10
ALB
albion
13 7 10 0 30

Game Recap: Football | 10/9/2022 7:47:00 AM | Greg Chandler

alma

next game:

at Alma

10/15/2022 | 1 p.m

october 15 (Sat) / 1 pm

at alma

The Hope College football team dropped to 0-2 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play with a 30-10 loss Saturday afternoon to Albion College at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in Albion.

The Flying Dutchmen fell to 3-3 overall with the defeat, while the Britons, ranked No. 22 in the latest d3football.com poll, remained unbeaten at 2-0 in MIAA play and 6-0 overall. The 0-2 MIAA start for Hope marks the first time since 2015 that the Dutchmen have started conference play with back-to-back defeats.

“I’m trying to search for the right words to figure out what we’re doing,” head coach Peter Stuursma said after the game. “We’ve scored two touchdowns in two games, and defensively, we’re giving up too many big plays. In the three games that we’ve lost this year, that’s been our MO – we’re not moving the ball and we ‘re making too many mistakes.

“We’re searching high and low to figure out what we need to do better. We’re going to evaluate everything. Every single thing will be evaluated. At the end of the day, we have to do a better job of putting guys into position to be successful.”

Playing in front of a large homecoming crowd on a blustery October afternoon, Albion scored the first two times it had the football to take a 13-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Hope got an opportunity to get back in the game late in the quarter when junior wide receiver Brad Rohen-Blanton of Byron Center, Michigan (Rockford) forced a fumble on an Albion punt return, and sophomore safety Tyler Stezowski of Holland, Michigan (Hamilton ) recovered the loose ball at the Britons’ 37-yard line.

However, two plays later, Albion intercepted a Hope pass to squelch that threat. The Britons later went on to score again to take a 20-0 lead.

The Flying Dutchmen got on the board midway through the second quarter. A 23-yard reverse by junior wide receiver Terrell Harris of Whitehall, Michigan (Whitehall) put Hope in the red zone. Senior placekicker Dylan Hillger of Holly, Michigan (Lake Fenton) split the uprights on a 45-yard field goal. The Dutchmen trailed 20-3 at the half.

A 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half gave Albion its final touchdown. The Britons scored all of four of their touchdowns through the air and finished with 347 yards passing.

The Flying Dutchmen struggled to move the ball in the first three quarters, but put together two long drives in the fourth. The second was an 81-yard, 18-play drive engineered by sophomore quarterback Ben Wellman of Bloomington, Illinois (Bloomington). Wellman converted two fourth downs on the drive, completing a 14-yard pass to Harris on fourth-and-8 and scrambling nine yards on a fourth-and-5.

Sophomore quarterback Chance Strickland of Mason, Michigan (Mason) finished the drive off with a 1-yard touchdown run, his second rushing touchdown of the season, with 1:41 remaining in the contest.

The Flying Dutchmen finished the game with 275 yards of total offense, 165 of them in the fourth quarter. Hope had 161 yards passing and 114 rushing.

Wellman, who entered the game in the second quarter, completed 13 of 31 passes for 144 yards. Harris led Hope with five receptions for 54 yards. Junior running back Elijah Smith of Hastings, Michigan (Hastings) led the ground game with 41 yards on 14 carries.

Defensively, senior cornerback Adam VanderKooy of Indianapolis, Indiana (Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) led Hope with 10 tackles. Junior linebacker Mohamed Kamara of Kalamazoo, Michigan (Kalamazoo Central) made nine tackles and intercepted a pass.

Sophomore linebacker Andrew Debri of DeWitt, Michigan (DeWitt) had two tackles for loss and sophomore linebacker Cole Luhmann of Rochester, Michigan (Stoney Creek) recovered a fumble.

The Flying Dutchmen return to action next Saturday against Alma College at Bahlke Field in Alma. Kick-off is 1 pm

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