ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College football program put its disappointing start in non-conference play behind them and delivered an epic comeback win as
Tyler Herzog came off the bench and capped off the game-winning drive by rifling a ball past a diving defensive back, into the arms of
Cooper Keene with 19 seconds left to beat the Adrian Bulldogs, 27-24, in both teams' MIAA opener.
Alma has now come away victorious in 14 consecutive conference matchups dating back to October 5, 2024, and needed to crawl out of a ten-point hole midway through the third quarter to get there.
The Basics:
- Records
- Alma (1-3, 1-0 Michigan)
- Adrian (2-2, 0-1 Michigan)
- Series History
- Scots Lead 52-35-1 (59.7%)
- Winning Streak
- Scots (W5) / Bulldogs' Last Win: October 16, 2021 (36-21)
How It Happened:
The game started off with a pair of punts but then got interesting in a hurry as starting quarterback
Jason Boge quickly marched his men 93 yards in just three minutes to score the game's first touchdown on a 26-yard seed down the right sideline to
TJ Seiler (7-0).
Andrew Bradley stunted the Bulldogs' next drive with an interception, but the Scots could not capitalize with any points.
Jacob Kluk nailed Adrian down at the one-yard line, but Adrian responded by going on a 14-play, 99-yard touchdown drive to knot the proceedings (7-7) that overlapped into the second quarter.
The visitors picked off a pass on Alma's first possession in the second and cashed in a field goal (7-10) but then the two defenses bent but did not break as the two teams ceded a combined 64 yards on 17 plays, but the scoreboard displayed a three-point AC advantage going into the break.
Adrian got the ball to start the second half and put some pressure on the home squad by finding the end zone to give the Bulldogs a ten-point cushion with 9:41 in the third (7-17). Alma and Adrian both punted the ball away on their ensuing drives with Kluk pulling off some more special teams magic by downing the Dogs at their own one-yard line for the second time on the day. The momentum started to really pick up speed in the Scots' favor when Herzog rose off the pine and into the huddle for the final possession of the quarter to drive the boys 73 yards on only six plays, hitting Seiler for his second score of the afternoon, this time a 30-yard bomb leading into the final frame (13-17).
Back-to-back punts began the fourth quarter, including Kluk stating his case for MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week after perfectly placing Adrian inside the three-yard line for the third time. Things started to look dicey for the Scots as Adrian looked like they were poised to drive the length of the field and potentially make it a two-possession ballgame, but
Jett King was having none of that, stepping in front of the wide receiver and scampering 52 yards for the defense's second pick-six in as many home games to ignite the Homecoming crowd and put Alma ahead with seven-and-a-half remaining (20-17). Adrian would not go down quietly, going 11 plays and 77 yards to paydirt to reclaim the lead right back just before the two-minute timeout (20-24). Calm, cool, and collected under pressure, Herzog eluded defenders in the pocket, and scrambled for 44 yards on the next drive to setup the play of the game. Keene found a small seam in the coverage on the far sideline and his signal caller threaded the needle through the Bulldogs defense for the go-ahead touchdown as the Scots moved in front with a mere 19 seconds to go (27-24). The last gasp for the visitors lasted all of one play as
Blake Esselink forced the strip sack of Jake Wright and King fell on the pigskin to lock up a HoCo dub for the good guys.
Scots' Top Performers:
King came up clutch time and time again for Co-Defensive Coordinators
Ryan Ettinger and
Scotty Cole '12, posting a season/game-high 13 tackles with his seventh career interception and subsequent first touchdown while recovering the clinching fumble (his third career FR).
Parker Schuman made his presence felt defensively as he tallied a sack in addition to punching the ball free while
Jacob Bowen plus
Drew Kanary combined for a half-sack.
Reed Seabase reached double-digit tackles for the first time at Alma with exactly ten takedowns,
Vindarr Soffredine and
Joe Debski each raised their single-game tackle bests to nine and seven, respectively.
In just a quarter-and-a-half, Herzog put on his Superman cape to go 7-of-9 (77.8%) passing for 88 yards and two scores as well as leading the ground game via 61 yards on eight carries for a 7.6 YPC. Seiler logged his first career multi-touchdown game (2) as he hauled in a personal-record six catches and a 2026-most 80 receiving yards whereas
Brayden Sullivan topped his career benchmark on his lone reception (48 yards) and Keene's go-ahead TD was the first score of his collegiate tenure.
Kluk had about as good of a punting day as humanly possible, averaging a career-best 46.4 yards per boot, downing Adrian inside their own red zone on four of his five punts (all four times inside the three and three times at the one), blasted a career-long 58-yarder, and had multiple 50+ yard kicks for just the second time.
Next:
A trip to Trine is next on the schedule for Coach Couch and company as the Scots look to keep pace with a high-octane Thunder offense that has scored at least 35 points in each of its first four games.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. inside
Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium on Saturday in Angola, Indiana.
Follow the football program on Twitter/X (
@AlmaScotsFB) and Instagram (
@AlmaScotsFootball).
Follow the Scots on Facebook (
@AlmaCollegeScots), Twitter/X (
@AlmaScots), Instagram (
@AlmaCollegeScots).
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