It was Senior Day 2014, as the Alma College Football team hosted MIAA rival Albion College on Saturday afternoon at a cloudy and cold Bahlke Field. The Britons scored early and then held off the Scots en route to a 35-13 league victory.

With the defeat, Alma is now 2-7 overall on the season and 0-5 in the league, while Albion improved 4-2 in the MIAA and 5-4 in 2014.

Alma had the ball first and after one first down, Fr. QB Dylan Zaborowski (Jackson/Michigan Center) fumbled on a rush and the Britons recovered and took over on the Scots' 35-yard line. Four plays later, Jr. RB Colin Parks scampered 13 yards for a score and a 7-0 lead.

The Scots' next drive ended in a punt after three plays and after a punt, Albion started began their next possession at the Alma 47-yard line. However, the Alma defense held on fourth down and the Scots once again took over. But, another three and out again forced Alma to punt and after a shanked kick, Albion started at the Scots 35-yard line.

Just two offensive plays later and Albion led 14-0 as Jr. RB Michael Czarnecki (Trenton/Trenton) ran 24 yards for a score with 8:10 left in the first quarter. On Alma's next possession, a fake punt attempt by newly inserted Fr. P Edward Inglesbee (Waterford/Wateford Kettering) came up short and the Britons took over at the Alma 32-yard line.

Albion took five plays to score again as Jr. TE Brendan McClorey caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jr. QB Dominic Bona to make it a 21-0 game at the 5:04 mark of the first quarter. Towards the end of the frame, Alma drove to the Britons 21-yard line before being unsuccessful on a fourth down attempt.

The next drive for Albion ended in a punt and Scots Sr. PR Kolbi Shumaker (Boyne City/Boyne City) gave the home team great field position as he returned the kick 40 yards to the  Albion 34-yard line. The two teams then went into the second quarter during Alma's possession but the Scots could not score. A 23-yard field goal attempt by Fr. K Ryan Maguire (Grand Haven/Grand Haven) was blocked and the Britons took over on their own 25-yard line.

The Britons proceeded to march 75 yards on 10 plays and put a stranglehold on the game when Parks plunged one-yard for a touchdown to put the visitors up by a commanding margin of 28-0 with 9:19 left in the half.

Alma than had their best drive of the first half by going 74 yards on just six plays. It was capped by Sr. WR Erik Hines (Menominee/Menominee) snaring a 15-yard touchdown pass from Zaborowski. A botched snap led to an incomplete pass on the point after however, and the score remained 28-6.

The Scots then forced Albion to punt and appeared to have gained the upper hand in momentum. However, on third and five from their own 13-yard line, Zaborowski threw an ill-timed pass that was intercepted, and after a short return, Albion had the ball at the Alma nine-yard line. Two plays later, Bona hit Jr. TE Joseph Mayone on a nine-yard TD strike and a 35-6 lead.

Neither team was able to generate any more scores over the final 2:52 and the squads went into the halftime break at 35-6. Albion had 271 yards of total offense in the first half, while Alma finished with 162 with the Britons having a 15-11 advantage in first downs. The Scots had 49 plays to Albion's 43.

The second half brought very little in terms of scoring as both teams moved the ball a bit but had a hard time putting it into the end zone. Later in the third quarter, Albion shanked their own punt and gave Alma the ball on the Britons' 19-yard line. The Scots capitalized quickly as Zaborowski threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jr. WR Sean McDonald (Gladwin/Gladwin) to make it a 35-13 game with 3:58 remaining in the frame.

That would be the extent of the scoring in the game although the Scots did get to inside the 20-yard line on two more instances in the fourth quarter. But, each time, the Albion defense tightened and the score remained at 35-13.

Statistically, the Britons finished with 409 total yards and Alma had 357, while the first downs also went to Albion by a margin of 24-21. The Scots ran 93 offensive plays to 83 for the Britons and time of possession favored the Alma by 32:22 to 27:38.

Zaborowski finished the game with 14 completions on 41 attempts with one interception and two touchdowns. The leading receiver for Alma was Sr. WR Tyler Watters (Williamston/Williamston), who had five catches for 40 yards, while Fr. TE Zachary Huver (Lowell/Lowell) was next with four receptions for 42 yards.

The leading rusher was also Zaborowski as he finished with 27 attempts for 122 net yards, while Fr. RB Brandon Harper (Sebewaing/Unionville-Sebewaing) was next with 25 yards on 10 carries. Fr. RB Tommie Dawson (Detroit/Redford Union) added 23 yards on nine carries.

Defensively, Sr. DB Brandon Wegenke (DeWitt/DeWitt) led all Alma tacklers with 12 total, including two for loss and he added one interception and two pass break-ups. Sr. LB Eric Strickler (Lapeer/Lapeer East) was next with 11 total tackles and Jr. LB Gavin Smith (Westphalia/Pewamo-Westphalia) added 10 total tackles. Jr. LB Terry Calagon (Jackson/East Jackson) had a team-high four quarterback hurries to go with two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a quarterback sack.

The Scots conclude their 2014 season next Saturday afternoon when they travel to Olivet College to take on the Comets. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.