The Hope College football team battled toe-to-toe with defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion Alma College for 30 minutes on homecoming Saturday afternoon at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium, trailing only 14-10 at halftime.
However, the Scots' high-powered offense erupted coming out of halftime, scoring twice in the first six minutes of the third quarter to break open the game defeat the Flying Dutchmen, 35-17,
The homecoming loss snapped a five-game winning streak and dropped Hope to 2-1 in the MIAA and 5-2 overall. The Scots, ranked No. 19 in the latest d3football.com poll, improved to 2-0 in the league and 6-0 overall.
"We beat ourselves. Ultimately, that's my responsibility as the head coach. I take full responsibility for it," Hope coach Peter Stuursma said after the game. "I thought we had too many penalties, I thought we had too many mistakes and missed assignments. That's on us. It starts at the top with me. I'm disappointed that we didn't have our guys better prepared.
"I tip my hat to (Alma coach) Jason Couch. He does a nice job with his team. We've gotta regroup and find a way to learn from this."
An early interception that was returned to the Hope 4-yard-line set up the first score of the game for Alma: a 2-yard touchdown reception for tight end Nate Webb on a Devin Reif jump pass.
Hope responded with an 80-yard, 12-play drive to tie the score, with freshman quarterback Zach Trainor of Milford, Michigan (Walled Lake Western) taking it in from two yards out for the touchdown. Sophomore placekicker Caden Balkon of Byron Center, Michigan (Byron Center) booted the conversion and the score was tied at 7-7.
The Scots' Zach Poff returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and Hope trailed 14-7 after the first quarter.
The Flying Dutchmen pulled to within four points late in the second quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Balkon. Alma missed a field goal on the final play of the half, and Hope was only down four at 14-10.
The Scots, who entered the game as the second-highest scoring offense in Division III at nearly 60 points per game, asserted themselves at the start of the third quarter. Alma drove 70 yards in nine plays to take a 21-10 lead.
Then after forcing a three-and-out, the Scots struck quickly on its next possession, driving 61 yards in 48 seconds to score again.
"The first drive of the second half was huge. We didn't get a stop. Then we chose to kick it into the wind because we wanted to win it in the fourth quarter (when we had the wind)," Stuursma said. "They beat us in the third quarter, so that didn't work, and it didn't go as planned.
After Alma scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter, Hope put together a 63-yard drive for its final score of the game. Junior quarterback Ben Wellman of Bloomington, Illinois (Bloomington) finished the drive off with a 9-yard touchdown run.
Hope finished the game with 327 yards total offense, 208 through the air and 119 on the ground. Trainor completed 8 of 15 passes for 105 yards with two interceptions, while Wellman was 10 of 15 through the air for 103 yards. Hope quarterbacks were sacked five times.
Junior running back Chance Strickland of Mason, Michigan (Mason) led the ground attack with 64 yards on 14 carries.
Senior wide receiver Terrell Harris of Whitehall, Michigan (Whitehall) was the leading receiver with four catches for 59 yards.
Defensively, junior linebacker Cole Luhmann of Rochester, Michigan (Stoney Creek) led Hope with 11 tackles, including a sack. Junior linebacker Luke Palmer of Fort Wayne, Indiana (Homestead) added 10 stops.
The Flying Dutchmen travel to the University of Olivet next Saturday, October 21, for an MIAA game against the Comets. Kickoff from the Cutler Athletic Complex is 2 p.m.