Aurora, Ill. - The Alma College football team overcame a nine-point deficit on the road on Saturday (Oct. 14), scoring 17 unanswered points - including 14 in the fourth quarter - to defeat Aurora University, 27-19, on a rain-filled afternoon at Vago Field.

The game was played almost entirely in the rain, and kickoff was delayed 35 minutes due to flooding on the field after heavy showers covered the Aurora area. 

Senior Dylan Zaborowski (Jackson, Mich./Michigan Center) rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns for his third consecutive 100-yard game, and also completed 14 of his 26 passes for a season-high 223 yards and a score. Junior Alex Yancy (Macomb, Mich./L'Anse Cruese North) caught a career-high eight passes for a career-best 122 yards, including a 53-yard catch-and-run for a score. 

Seniors Brandon Moore (Port Austin, Mich./North Huron) and Zac Peterson (Holt, Mich./Holt) led the defense with seven tackles each while the Scots held Aurora to 65 yards rushing and forced three turnovers. 

How It Happened

• Aurora scored first when Gavin Zimbelman found the end zone from the 1-yard line on a 4th-and-1 situation to open the second quarter.
• The Scots responded on the next drive when Dylan Zaborowski found Alex Yancy for a 53-yard score to take a 7-6 lead.
• Alma forced Aurora to fumble and recovered the ball on its own 35, but the Spartans scored on the next play when Brendan Fulton picked off Zaborowski and returned the ball 57 yards for the score to put Aurora up by a 13-7 margin with 12:38 to play in the opening half.
• Jacob Plisko hit a 20-yard field goal with 7:05 remaining in the second quarter to pull Alma within three points at 13-10. 
• The Spartans increased their lead to nine points with 3:34 to play in the half when Zimbelman found Sean Mullen for a 48-yard pass on 4th-and-1. 
• Plisko split the uprights from 26 yards away with 30 seconds remaining in the half to cut the Spartans' lead to 19-13. 
• After a scoreless third quarter, Zaborowski scored on a two-yard run to open the fourth stanza and tie the game at 20-20. Plisko's extra-point attempt put the Scots ahead, 20-19. 
• The Scots ground out a 13-play, 86-yard drive late in the game, chewing up 6:33 of the clock to extend their lead to eight points with 3:45 to play when Zaborowski found the end zone on an eight-yard run. 

Notables

• Dylan Zaborowski recorded his third straight 100-yard rushing game and now has six career 100-yard efforts.
• Zaborowski moved into fourth place on Alma's career rushing attempts chart and now sits one attempt away from third place. He has rushed the ball 486 times.
• Zaborowski also moved into fifth place on the Scots' career rushing yards chart and now has 1,892 rushing yards over his four-year career. 
• Alex Yancy set career-highs for catches and receiving yards with his 8 catches for 122 yards. 
• Alma is 6-0 against teams from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference since 2015 and has won its crossover game against NACC competition in each of the last three seasons.

Up Next

The Scots will wrap up their three-game road trip on Saturday, Oct. 21, traveling to Albion College for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Alma will be looking for its first win at the Britons' Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium since 2007.