Bloomington, Ill. - The Alma College football team suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday (Sept. 12) afternoon, falling 49-14 at Illinois Wesleyan. The Scots drop to 1-1 overall while the Titans improved to 2-0.

The Scots drove the ball down into the Illinois Wesleyan red zone on their opening drive before the Titans intercepted a pass from sophomore QB Dylan Zaborowski (Jackson, Mich./Michigan Center) at the 1-yard line. The Alma defense then held the Titans to a three-and-out on IWU's opening possession, sacking QB Jack Warner on the 4-yard line. After a 22-yard punt by Connor Higgins, the Scots took over on the Titans' 26-yard line and drove 26 yards in eight plays with Zaborowski scoring from one yard out to take a 7-0 lead.

Illinois Wesleyan answered on its next drive, with Warner scoring on a two-yard run to make it 7-7 near the end of the first quarter. The teams held each other in check for most of the second quarter, with Alma blocking a 37-yard field goal attempt by Michael Kelley. The Titans took the lead, however, with 4:08 remaining when Warner scored again, scampering in from 13 yards out to make it 14-7.

The Scots answered immediately, driving 63 yards in six plays, including a 26-yard pass from Zaborowski to senior WR Erik Hines (Menominee, Mich./Menominee). Alma tied the game with 1:24 in the second quarter when sophomore WR Daniel Hugan (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Huron) scored on a 9-yard run.

Just before the half, the Titans drove 57 yards in under a minute, scoring with 27 seconds remaining to take the lead for good at 21-14.

Alma opened the second half with senior DL Troy Gahm (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord) making his first career interception, picking off Warner, but the Scots could not convert. Illinois Wesleyan then went on to put 28 points on the board in the second half while holding Alma scoreless. The Scots best chance for a score in the second half came late in the third quarter, but Zaborowski was picked off at the Titans' 2-yard line to halt the drive.

Zaborowski finished the day completing 14 of his 26 passes for 98 yards while also rushing 32 yards on nine carries. Hines led the receivers with five catches for 53 yards, while Hugan caught six balls for 47 yards. Defensively, junior Aaron Davis (Detroit, Mich./Ferndale) tallied 10 tackles to lead the team, while sophomore LB Zac Peterson (Holt, Mich./Holt) posted a career-high eight stops, including the first three sacks of his career.

Illinois Wesleyan rolled up 583 yards of total offense while Alma totaled 232, including 144 through the air.

The Scots come home for the first time in 2015 next week (Saturday, Sept. 19), hosting Rockford. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Bahlke Field on the Alma College campus. The game is designated as Community Day, with a free community picnic and inflatable games for families taking place beginning at 4:30 p.m., outside the Bahlke Field entrance.

NOTES

• Eric Hines has now caught a pass in 22 consecutive games.
• Daniel Hugan and Dylan Zaborowski both have scored a rushing touchdown in each of Alma's first two games.
• Troy Gahm recorded his first career interception.
• Aaron Davis tallied a career-high 10 tackles. His previous best was four stops against Lakeland on Nov. 1, 2014.
• Sophomore Colton Tyson (Vassar, Mich./Vassar) had a season-high nine tackles.
• Junior Cody Coleman (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) made a career-high eight stops.
• Zac Peterson a career-high eight tackles against the Titans, and recorded the first sacks of his career with three.
• Senior Terry Calagon (Jackson, Mich./East Jackson) had seven tackles, including one for a loss, today. In his career, Calagon has 33 tackles for loss, trailing Sam Young (33.5) for the most tackles for loss in Scots history. (record kept since 2003)
• The Scots have never beaten Illinois Wesleyan and are now 0-7 against the Titans.

QUOTES

Head Coach Greg Pscodna

On next week's home opener against Rockford:

"The biggest thing is that we have to get back and regroup. Rockford is 2-0 right now and they are flying high and looking forward to coming into Alma trying to go 3-0. We have to get back to the drawing board, get a little better defense, convert on third downs, and if we do that it will be a great game under the lights."