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OPENING DRIVE
The Alma College football team hosts Adrian in the program's cAres Game. The Scots will honor those affected by cancer with a survivor's tunnel during the pregame entrace, the players will be wearing jerseys with the name of a loved one affected by cancer or another disease, and will be gifting their jerseys to their loved ones after the game.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Adrian enters today's game 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association having lost to Kalamazoo and Olivet. The Bulldogs are the only team in the conference that has a player in the top three in the league in passing, rushing and receiving yards per game. Quarterback Jack Wurzer's 252.8 yards per game and 12 touchdowns are both second in the MIAA, running back Emmanuel Stewart averages 118.2 yards per game, and wide receiver Jerron McGaw leads the league with 122.6 yards per game. McGaw also has eight touchdown receptions, twice as many as second place. Though the Bulldogs average 427.2 yards per game, they only score 30.4 points per game. They are also the most penalized team in the league at 75.8 yards per game and have forced just six turnovers this year, the fewest in the conference.
THE SERIES...
Alma is 47-31-1 all-time against the Bulldogs dating back to 1900.
PREVIOUSLY — at No. 14 Trine 52, Alma 24
The Scots dropped their last game 52-24 to nationally ranked No. 14 Trine University on Saturday, Oct. 6. Thunder running back Lamar Carswell ran for 392 yards and five touchdowns. Steven Sowa led Alma's rushing attack with 66 yards on 12 attempts. Chase Hinkle was close behind with 61 yards while Mason Ippel, Ryan Stevens and Austin Spratling all posted rushing scores. Alma held the ball for 46 of the game's 60 minutes and ran for 243 yards, but gave up too many big plays to Trine and Carswell, Division III's second-leading rusher, in particular. The two teams were a combined 9-of-17 passing.
BRITONS SPOIL HOMECOMING
The Scots took the Albion Britons and one of the best offenses in Division III to double overtime on Sept. 29, but ultimately fell 37-34. The Scots held a seven-point lead with 1:43 remaining in regulation and had Albion pinned back with a 4th and 10 on their own 22, but the Britons converted the first down and drove the final 57 yards in six plays to tie the game with 10 seconds left and force overtime. After offsetting field goals in the first extra period, Alma's next field goal attempt missed — Albion's did not.
CONFERENCE LEADERS
- Quarterback Mason Ippel is sixth in the MIAA in passing yards per game (141.2.0). He is also 10th in the league in rushing (63.6 ypg).
- Wide receiver Chase Hinkle is seventh in the conference in receiving yards per game (58.4).
- Kicker Jacob Plisko owns the longest-made kick in the league this season — along with three other players — at 41 yards.
- The Scots have some of the surest tacklers in the conference. Defensive back Alex Szajko and linebackers Gunner Lamb and Zeke Ramirez are all in the top-five in tackles; Szajko leads the Scots with 30.0.
TARTAN TIDBITS
- Junior wide receiver Chase Hinkle had a few career-highs in the season opener at Baldwin Wallace: he put up 152 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six catches
- Junior quarterback Mason Ippel's two touchdown passes against Baldwin Wallace are twice as many as he had entering the game. Ippel saw limited action backing up four-year starter Dylan Zaborowski for the last two years.
- Ippel had a career-high 129 rushing yards against Concordia Wisconsin.
- Alma has won an MIAA championship in each decade dating back to the 1900s. The Scots' last league title was in 2004.
NEXT UP...
Three of the Scots' last four games are on the road, starting with Kalamazoo on Oct. 20 at 2:00 p.m. As of Saturday morning, the Hornets are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the conference and play Albion at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
