Alma College

 
ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College football program gashed Olivet for nearly 500 yards of total offense, limited the Comets to just 150, and showed a glimpse of its juggernaut form from the past few seasons as the Scots throttled the visitors in a 55-7 rout.
 
The ground game, which had sputtered to just 362 yards over the first five games (72.4 average), arrived at Bahlke Field seemingly reborn, scoring more touchdowns (4) than they had coming in (3) and rumbling for 294 net yards, a per carry mark of 5.9.
 
The Basics:

• Score
  • Alma – 55
  • Olivet – 7

• Records
  • Alma (2-4, 2-1 Michigan)
  • Olivet (3-3, 0-3 Michigan)

• Location
  • Alma, Michigan – Bahlke Field

• Series History
  • Scots Lead 72-35-1 (88.5%)

• Winning Streak
  • Scots (W5) / Comets' Last Win: October 2, 2021 (33-10)

 
How It Happened:
The first two minutes could not have gone much better for the Scots as Ryan West forced a strip sack on the third play from scrimmage (recovered by Christian Bannow) and was almost immediately turned into seven points as Tyler Herzog found Miles Haggart for a 13-yard touchdown. Olivet responded admirably, calmly moving 75 yards in 14 plays down the turf and into the end zone on a one-yard plunge by Jaylan Johnson to tie the game at seven. The ensuing kickoff gave Alma the ball on the UO 35 and they answered right back with a one-yard rushing touchdown of their own by Cayden Bell.
 
Olivet got the ball back with 4:13 on the clock in the first quarter and had first-and-goal from the four when the scoreboard read triple zeroes as fans started preparing for a potential shootout. Momentum would soon swing entirely in the Scots' favor from that point forward however, as the Comets went two yards backwards over the ensuing four plays, turning the ball over on downs and sparking a massive second frame for the Maroon and Teal. AC took advantage of the moment, slicing through the deflated Olivet defense for a ten-play, 93-yard backbreaking drive that ended on a 14-yard pass between wide receivers, Sam Couch to Ethan Hull, that extended the lead to 21-7. A three-and-out by the Comets was then followed up by another haymaker as Herzog found Hull streaking wide open down the middle of the field for a 61-yard score on the first play of the drive to make it 28-7 Scots. Things just kept going from bad-to-worse for the visitors as their next offensive snap was batted straight up into the air and into the arms of defensive lineman Gaige Towner to give the Scots the ball back deep in Comets territory (UO 21) once again. Alma decided the rout was officially on moments later when Herzog kept it himself on a nine-yard scamper to end the scoring for the first half at 35-7 Scots.
 
The third quarter saw Alma's Jace Heck connect on field goals from 39 and 24 during its first two possessions while the defense continued to lock down everything Olivet threw its direction as the Scots went into the final frame up 41-7.
 
The Maroon and Teal got back to scoring touchdowns in the fourth, punctuating both of its first two possessions with Bell bullying his way to paydirt from one yard away both times while co-Defensive Coordinators Ryan Ettinger and Scotty Cole forced a trio of Comets' three-and-outs that produced a net of -7 yards for a final score of 55-7, Alma.
 
Scots' Top Performers:
As far as the rejuvenated running game is concerned, Braylon McDonald led the way in both carries (12) and yards (76, 6.3 YPC) with five different players averaging over six yards a pop as Herzog had 54 on eight totes plus a score (6.8), Easton Hood logging 45 over six attempts (7.5), Rafeal Payne logging 43 on six (7.2), and finally Jason Boge scrambled three times for 35 yards (11.7), all without mentioning Bell's three touchdowns. Hull remains the focal point of the passing game for Scots quarterbacks, having more yards (106) than the entire Comets' receiving corps put together (77) on four catches with a pair of scores. The veteran of the pass catching group, Haggart, returned to the end zone for the first time in 2026 and Herzog completed 65% of his passes (13-for-20) on top of two scores.
 
Ryan West (Kentucky) lived in the backfield as each of his three tackles went for losses, two of those being sacks, and one forcing the fumble on the opening possession of the afternoon. Jayden Button also tallied his first career sack whereas Keegan Bey logged the final full TFL. Andrew Bradley led the Scots in the tackling department at a half-dozen, Towner got the rare big man interception, and the duo of Robert Hock / Ryan West (Michigan) each broke up passes in the secondary.
 
The special teams unit was not needed extensively on Saturday but shined once called upon as Nathen Raison got his hands on a punt and forced it to flutter for only 20 yards (plus five tackles), Heck nailed both of his field goals, Jacob Kluk unleashed a career-long 64-yard punt while averaging nearly 60 yards per kick (58.5), Will Soulliere belted three touchbacks on ten kickoffs, and Braden Andrejack scored his first two career points on PATs.
 
Next:
Coach Couch and company kept its MIAA Championship dreams alive for another week with the 11th-ranked preseason favorites coming to town on Saturday at 1 p.m., the Hope Flying Dutchmen.
 

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