The Alma College Football team opened up the 2013 campaign on Saturday by visiting Heidelberg University in a warm Tiffin, Ohio. The Scots dropped the contest to the Student Princes by a margin of 52-7. Alma is now 0-1 on the year and will host Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday afternoon at Bahlke Field, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

"We got beat by one of the top teams in the country today," said Alma Head Coach Greg Pscodna. "We will take a long look at the film and try to correct the mistakes we made moving forward. Then we will get to work to get ready for Illinois Wesleyan."

It was a tough day all around for the Scots and it started early. After Alma won the toss and decided to defer, Heidelberg took just 1:15 to go 66 yards on four plays, making the score 7-0 on a RB Cartel Brooks touchdown run. A good return by Jr. WR/KR Tyler Watters (Williamston, Mich./Williamston) gave the ball to the Scots on their own 38-yard line, and after a first down, Alma moved the ball to the Berg 42-yard line. However, the drive stalled after a failed fourth down attempt.

The Student Princes then took a 14-0 lead 2:12 later by going 58 yards on six plays and scoring on a seven-yard TD run by RB Bryan Lacey. Heidelberg would go on to score two more touchdowns in the first quarter - a 43-yard run by Brooks and a 10-yard run by Lacey - for a 28-0 lead after one.

Alma punted again on their next possession and the Berg drove 62 yards on four plays and extended the advantage to 35-0 just 35 seconds into the second quarter. After the ensuing kickoff, Alma had their best drive of the young season, as they took 5:06 off of the clock and drove 54 yards on 11 plays to the Berg 29-yard line. However, Alma So. QB Brent Luplow (Clare, Mich./Clare), playing in his first series, was intercepted on a fourth and six play that ended the drive.

Two plays later, Jr. DB Adam Nelson (St. Clair Shores, Mich./U of D Jesuit) intercepted a pass from Heidelberg QB Michael Mees and the Scots had the ball at the Berg 25-yard line. It took Alma 4:41 and eight plays to go the 25 yards, but the Scots scored their first touchdown of the year on the next series. Sr. QB Jarrett Leister (St. Louis, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) connected with Jr. WR Erik Hines (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord) on a three-yard touchdown to make the score 35-7.

The Student Princes took the ball and drove 64 yards on seven plays, taking 1:57 off of the clock, and extended their lead to 38-7 on a field goal late in the quarter. The Scots mustered one more first down before the clock ran out, sending the game into halftime with the home team up by 31 points.

In the third quarter, Alma punted twice and Heidelberg once before the Berg was able to muster some points in the frame. QB Joe Sandwisch threw a six-yard touchdown pass to WR Ethan Kindle as the home team went ahead 45-7 after a 54-yard, 10-play drive. As the third quarter ended, Alma had earned a first down and were driving.

However, the Scots' drive stalled and the team was forced to punt. Alma Fr. P Alex Crocker (Suttons Bay, Mich./Suttons Bay) booted the ball 40 yards to the Berg 29-yard line, but Heidelberg PR Ryan Fischer caught the punt and ran 71 yards the other way for a touchdown. The score put the Student Princes up 52-7 just 22 seconds into the fourth quarter.

There was no further scoring but Alma did have one possession where they drove to the Heidelberg 25-yard line before stalling. A 42-yard field goal attempt by Scots Sr. K Jack Pryde (Royal Oak, Mich./Royal Oak) was blocked however, and Alma came away with no points. The Berg then proceeded to run out the clock and walk off the field with the 52-7 season-opening win.

For the day, Heidelberg finished with 21 first downs to Alma's 14 and the Student Princes outgained the Scots by a margin of 532 to 211. Alma did win the time of possession battle however as they held the ball for 36:14 to the Berg's 23:46.

Offensively, the Scots were led in rushing by So. RB Joe Endres (Lake Odessa, Mich./Lakewood) and So. RB Robert Gibson (Royal Oak, Mich./Royal Oak), as each player rushed for 27 yards on 11 carries. On the receiving end, Hines and Fr. TE Nick Cozart (Manchester, Mich./Manchester) both caught three passes for 40 yards and Hines had the touchdown.

At quarterback, Leister finished the day with 10 completions on 20 attempts for 68 yards and one touchdown, while Luplow completed two of seven passes for 16 yards and an interception. In addition, So. QB Derek Talaga (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) threw seven times with three completions for 53 yards.

On defense, six different players led the Scots with six total tackles a piece, including Nelson, who also had the interception. So. LB Terry Calagon (Jackson, Mich./East Jackson) and Sr. LB Austin Smith (Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi) each had five tackles with one tackle for loss. Jr. LB Sam Young (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) recorded the team's only pass break-up on the afternoon.