The Hope College football team passed its first road test of the season with Flying (Dutchmen) colors on Saturday.
Hope defeated Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 49-7, in Terre Haute, Indiana, for its first 3-0 start since 2013.
The Flying Dutchmen wrapped up non-league play and now will turn their attention to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 2 p.m. at two-time defending conference champion Alma College.
"We're going to enjoy this for 24 hours, and then we'll worry about Alma," head coach Peter Stuursma said afterward.
There was plenty to enjoy about the Rose-Hulman game for Stuursma, his staff, and his players. Once again, they moved the ball seemingly at will against the opposing defense while shutting down the other team's offense.
Hope took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in nine plays. Senior running back Tyler Amos of Portage, Michigan (Portage Northern) finished the drive off with a 1-yard plunge for the touchdown. Junior placekicker Caden Balkon of Byron Center, Michigan (Byron Center) booted the first of his seven extra-point kicks on the day for a 7-0 lead a little more than three minutes into the game.
The Fighitn' Engineers responded to Hope's opening score with a touchdown drive of their own, as Rick Easterwood hooked up with running back Jay Smith on a 16-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.
The tie lasted all of 16 seconds.
Amos took the ensuing kickoff, weaved his way through the Rose-Hulman coverage team, picked up several key blocks, and took it all the way for an 87-yard touchdown. It was Hope's first kickoff return for a TD since Carter Nofziger had a 90-yard touchdown return, tying the school record for longest kickoff return, against Northwestern (Minnesota) in 2021.
Hope was never threatened after that.
"That kickoff return was huge, for a number of reasons," Stuursma said. "One, to have a kickoff return in a game is huge in college football. Two, to have it come together right after a score on their part, huge. And to have it happen to a young man like Tyler Amos, that's pretty cool."
The Flying Dutchmen shut down Rose-Hulman and forced three-and-outs on the Engineers' next two possessions. Meanwhile, Hope's offense rolled. Later in the first quarter, senior quarterback Ben Wellman of Bloomington, Illinois (Bloomington) went over the right side of his offensive line for a 12-yard touchdown run as the Flying Dutchmen lead grew to 21-7.
In the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Zach Trainor of Milford, Michigan (Walled Lake Western) went to the air and found sophomore wide receiver Evan Graham of Caledonia. Michigan (Caledonia) wide open in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown strike, Graham's first career touchdown.
Then on Hope's next possession, senior running back Chance Strickland of Mason, Michigan (Mason) hit paydirt on a 2-yard run, moments after Amos busted loose for a 44-yard run.
Strickland's touchdown extended Hope's streak of consecutive first-half possessions with a touchdown to 15. The Flying Dutchmen led 35-7 at halftime.
"I was happy with the guys, with the way we started – happy with the way offensively we've scored on a number of drives in the first half and the last few games. That's huge," Stuursma said. "Defensively, take out the first drive – kudos to them, they made some plays, we didn't, boom, they scored. But after that, nothing. They didn't even threaten into our territory. I thought our defense really shored up and played fast."
In the third quarter, Strickland scored his second touchdown and ninth of the season on a 4-yard run. That was his 33rd career touchdown, tying him with Ed Cain (1978-81) for fourth place on Hope's career touchdown list.
The Flying Dutchmen closed out the scoring on a 22-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Kal Motter of Lawton, Michigan (Lawton) late in the third quarter.
Hope has now outscored its opponents 146-13 to start the season. Opening up big leads on opponents has allowed Stuursma the luxury of being able to get a lot of players in-game experience, something he believes will pay dividends in the future.
"You can't even put a value on that," Stuursma said. "It's huge. It's guys who have committed to coming here, who were studs in high school, who were transfers, or what have you – they want to play. You can only play 11 at a time the last time I checked. You can't underscore that enough. Look at a guy like Kal Motter who goes in there and just rips it, a guy like Trent Behrenwald goes in there and plays hard … That's going to come in handy down the stretch."
Hope finished with 528 yards total offense in the game while limiting Rose-Hulman to 210 yards in total offense. The Flying Dutchmen rushed 391 yards for a 7.8-yard per carry average, while shutting down the Fightin' Engineers ground game to 46 yards and 1.8-yard per carry average.
Strickland and Amos both went over the 100-yard mark in rushing, with Strickland going for 130 yards on 18 carries and Amos toting the ball for 112 yards on nine carries plus his long kickoff return.
Defensively, senior safety Sam Cochran of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East) led Hope with six tackles.
Sophomore linebacker Brad Raredon of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville) had two tackles for loss.
Junior defensive tackle Micah McCurry of Clarendon Hills, Illinois (Hinsdale) recorded a sack.
Sophomore safety Tyson Mann of Byron Center, Michigan (Grandville) intercepted a pass and freshman linebacker Easton Phipps of Grand Blanc, Michigan (Goodrich) recovered a fumble.
Unbeaten Hope Runs Over Rose-Hulman
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20240921_lvgg.xml
2024
Hope
49
Rose-Hulman
7
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Hope (3-0) | 21 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 49 |
| Rose-Hulman (0-3) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Sep 21, 2024