The Hope College football team ran away with the Wooden Shoes traveling trophy again.
The Flying Dutchmen soared to a 63-17 victory on the road on Saturday by overwhelming Kalamazoo College with 762 yards of total offense, including a season-high 459 rushing yards,
The game marked the seventh consecutive time Hope defeated the Hornets and the Flying Dutchmen's third consecutive game in the series with 60-plus points.
Six different Hope players scored at least one touchdown, including three by junior running back Chance Strickland (Mason, Michigan / Mason HS).
"I'm super proud of the guys up front. Our running backs. our offensive line, our H-backs, those guys playing like that make for a fun day," head coach Peter Stuursma said after the Flying Dutchmen improved to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in MIAA play.
Hope is in second place in the league standings, one-half game ahead of Trine University, next week's opponent. The Flying Dutchmen host the Thunder for Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 1 p.m. at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium. It is Hope's regular-season finale.
The Flying Dutchmen's 459 rushing yards against Kalamazoo is the third-highest by an NCAA Division III this season. Their 762 yards of total offense is the fourth-most in a Division III game.
Hope asserted its dominance after junior safety Tyler Stezowski (Holland, Michigan / Hamilton) intercepted a Kalamazoo pass at the Flying Dutchmen 3-yard line to stop a game-opening, 14-play series.
Four plays later, Hope capped a 97-yard drive when freshman quarterback Zach Trainor (Milford, Michigan / Walled Lake Northern) connected with sophomore receiver Travis Myers (Ada, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern) for a 15-yard touchdown pass.
Trainor's 65-yard pass to senior receiver Grant Holtzer (Okemos, Michigan / Okemos) on the Flying Dutchmen's second offensive play set up the score.
Then with 3:03 left in the first quarter, junior defensive lineman Oatis Ackermann (East Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) and sophomore defensive lineman Caleb Paarlberg (Alto, Michigan / Caledonia) sacked Kalamazoo quarterback Josh Nichols in the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 lead.
Hope went on to lead to 29-10 at halftime, then outscored Kalamazoo 21-7 during the third quarter.
"We scored 29 points in the first half, but we didn't feel very good because we thought we left some big plays on the field. By the time we got to playing the second half, we were rolling," Stuursma said.
Senior running back Elijah Smith (Hastings, Michigan / Hastings) rushed for a game-high and season-high 195 yards on 17 carries. He scored on touchdown runs of 53 and 4 yards.
Strickland ran for 112 yards and touchdowns of 16, 3 and 2 yards. His career-high 14 rushing touchdowns are tied for the seventh-most in team history.
The Flying Dutchmen also received rushing touchdowns of 2 yards from freshman running back Shawn Foster (Grand Ledge, Michigan / Grand Ledge) and 11 yards from sophomore quarterback Hunter Ames (Grand Blanc, Michigan / Grand Blanc Community).
Trainor also threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to senior Terrell Harris (Whitehall, Michigan / Whitehall).
Holtzer finished with a season-best 141 receiving yards on four catches.
Defensively, Stezowski shared team-high tackling honors with senior safety Brady Howe (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian). Both had eight.
Stezowski also snagged one of Hope's interceptions. He was joined by sophomore safety Nick Flegler (DeWitt, Michigan / DeWitt) and sophomore Caleb Dean (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison).
Flegler also forced a fumble.
Hope collected six tackles: two from sophomore defensive lineman Liam Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights), 1 ½ from Ackermann, 1 from senior Zac Carlson (Charlotte, Michigan / Charlotte) and half-of-one from Paarlberg.
"It started up front. When you can create pressure on the quarterback and get them to play quicker, they can try to fit the ball in there," Stuursma said. "That allows our guys to be opportunistic. We had some tipped balls, too. Guys were on the spot to make plays."