Alma, MI – Alma College Football welcomed Albion College in to continue MIAA conference play on Saturday afternoon. In a battle of two the top squads in the conference, the Scots held off a furious Briton comeback, winning 40-30.
In the early goings, it looked as though Alma was going to run away with the ballgame. The Scots forced a punt on the opening drive, scoring on their opening offensive possession.
Eddie Williams capped an 8 play, 71-yard drive with a 30 yard rushing score, the 4
th rushing TD for the junior in the last 2 games. Albion's offense gained traction, but a missed field goal kept the 0 on the board. Alma turned that around and scored again with
Carter St. John connecting with
Ty Lotterman from 7-yards out to make the score 13-0. That lead held until the end of the quarter.
The Brits punted back to Alma, and
Davin Reif pushed the lead to 20-0, somersaulting into the endzone after contact with an Albion lineman. The Scots defense held strong, and a 27 yard field goal from Josh Hernandez, who became Alma College's all-time leading scorer against Calvin, ballooned the lead to 23-0. Albion scored a pair of TDs late in the half, but a blocked PAT by
Jack Anderson held the lead at 23-13 going into the locker room.
The teams wound up going point-for-point in the second half. Albion knocked down a field goal to cut the lead to 7 points, and Hernandez answered from 24 yards out to push it right back up to 10. The Britons scored a touchdown late in the quarter, and Alma answered minutes later with a rushing score from St. John. The Scots led 33-23 after three.
Albion's comeback efforts continued late in the game when a touchdown brought the gap down to 33-30. However, a late interception from
Jett King nearly sealed the game, and St. John iced it with a TD pass to
Jordan Williams on a 4
th down play.
Carter St. John went 25-34 for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air.
Eddie Williams was the leading rusher, netting 70 yards and a touchdown in the game.
Devon Frenchko led the Scots receivers with 7 catches for 101 yards.
Brock Beaudrie led the defense with 7 total tackles, and
Evan Eastman was a force with 1.5 sacks in the contest.
The Scots improve to 4-2, and 2-1 in MIAA play. Alma welcomes The University of Olivet next week for Community Day.