On a cloudy but relatively comfortable fall afternoon, the Scots Football team hosted MIAA rival Albion College at Bahlke Field and dropped a 24-3 decision. In a game that saw Alma's defense give the team a chance, the home team came up short and fell to 1-3 in the league and 1-7 overall, while the Britons are now 2-1 in the MIAA and 5-2 overall.

"You know Albion controlled the ball and did a good job and we didn't have the football much in the second half and just couldn't get anything going when we did have it," said Alma Head Coach Greg Pscodna. "We missed some key throws and catches and you can't do that against a good football team. The defense played outstanding. They played much better than they did last week and Albion has some very good running backs who are very quick. I thought for most of the game that we contained them well.

"We just have to keep getting better because two penalties cost us the game. A personal foul penalty and running into the kicker cost us. Until we stop doing stuff like that, we're not going to be a very good football team."

After a scoreless and quick first quarter, the Scots broke the ice with a 38-yard field by Sr. K Jack Pryde (Royal Oak, Mich./Royal Oak) to give them a 3-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter. Albion responded on their next drive with a 11-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a RB Darrin Williams six-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 advantage.

The Scots punted on their next possession and the Britons promptly took their following drive 68 yards on seven plays and took a 14-3 lead when QB Dominic Bona hit WR Zachary Brewer for a 31-yard touchdown strike. After an Alma interception by Jr. QB Jarrett Leister (St. Louis, Mich./Mt. Pleasant), the game went into halftime with that score when Albion could not capitalize on the turnover.

Albion took the opening drive of the third quarter and settled for a 20-yard field goal to culminate a five-play, 64-yard drive to take a 17-3 lead. After a Scots punt, the Britons drove to the Alma 18-yard line but missed a 35-yard field goal attempt and the home team went into the fourth quarter down by just two touchdowns.

However, the Scots could not muster any offense and after another turnover, Albion put the game away with a Willams four-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining. Alma had one last scoring chance in the last 20 seconds but a questionable call negated a touchdown and the Britons walked off the field with the 24-3 victory.

Albion led Alma in first downs by a margin of 17-8 and had the advantage in total yards by a mark of 356 to 228. Time of possession also favored the Britons by 37:22 to 22:38 and the visitors ran 63 offensive plays to the Scots' 44. Alma had nine penalties for 96 yards and Albion had five infractions for 50 yards.

Offensively for Alma, Leister finished 13 of 28 for 170 yards with two interceptions and Sr. WR Michael Lenneman (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) led the team with six catches for 72 yards. Jr. WR Joey Jerisk (Burton, Mich./Burton Bentley) had a team-high 42 yards rushing on six carries. On defense, Sr. DB Andrew Funsch (West Branch, Mich./Ogemaw Heights) had a team-best 11 tackles, while So. DB Adam Nelson (St. Clair Shores, Mich./U of D Jesuit) and So. LB Sam Young (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) were next with eight tackles a piece.

After a bye next weekend, the Scots will conclude the home portion of their 2012 schedule when they host Kalamazoo College on November 3. Kickoff at Bahlke Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.