Homecoming 2011 for Alma College Football proved to be a very windy, cool fall afternoon, as they hosted Trine University in the annual event that brings so many people to campus. The visiting Thunder ruined the football side of things by defeating the Scots by a score of 26-0, in front of more than 1,500 people at Bahlke Field.
Alma had four turnovers on the afternoon, and Trine scored four touchdowns off of those miscues to account for the margin of victory. Three of those were inside of Alma territory, giving the Thunder short fields of play to work with to take advantage of the mistakes.
With the loss, the Scots are now 1-6 on the 2011 season and 0-3 in the MIAA, while Trine improved to 1-1 in the league and 5-1 overall. After a bye next weekend, Alma will travel to Kalamazoo to take on the Hornets at Western Michigan University. The Friday night game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
A defensive first quarter turned after the midway point, when Alma So. QB Jarrett Leister (St. Louis, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) was intercepted by the Thunder's Raymond Nelson, who returned it six yards to the Scots' 30-yard line.
Eight plays later, Trine had a touchdown, as Devin Leas plunged one-yard for the score. The extra point was blocked by Sr. DL Ed Raby Jr. (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) to keep the score 6-0. After an Alma fumble, the Thunder drove just 22 yards on four plays, and took a 13-0 lead on a QB Ryan Hargraves pass to WR Will Chrystal.
The Thunder increased their lead halfway through the third quarter after another Alma fumble gave them the ball at the Scots' 32-yard line. Trine made the lead 19-0 when Hargraves connected with WR Ja Vontae Hence on a six-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion failed for the Thunder.
Trine finished the scoring with 3:00 to go in the third quarter, when RB Jared Barton ran 15 yards, and after the extra point, the score was the final margin of 26-0. The Scots had chances inside the Red Zone against the Thunder in the final quarter, but were not able to capitalize and put the ball into the end zone.
Individually, the highlights for the Scots were on the defensive side of the ball on Saturday. Sr. LB Conrad Bovee (Ithaca, Mich./Ithaca) led the team with 19 total tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss. Sr. LB Anthony Sabatella (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Warren De La Salle) and Sr. DB Brian Halas (St. Charles, Mich./St. Charles) were next for Alma with 15 and 12 tackles respectively.
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