Scots Football loses to defending MIAA Champs Trine University 51-14 on Homecoming 2009
Homecoming is supposed to be a special time, one where old friends gather, share stories, and watch a football victory for the home team on a beautiful fall afternoon. Somebody forgot to tell visiting Trine University that, as they came to town as defending league champs and left with a 51-14 victory in front of a large home crowd of 3,744. Alma dropped to 2-3 overall (0-1 MIAA), while Trine improved to 4-1 (2-0 MIAA) in 2009.
Things started so well for the home team as Alma drove 65 yards on nine plays on the opening possession of the game, and took a 7-0 lead when Sr. QB Mackenzie McGrady (Portland, MI/Portland) hit Sr. WR Brad Gray (Bloomfield Hills, MI/W. Bloomfield) on an eight-yard touchdown pass. It took all of 3:10 and it looked to be the Homecoming everyone wanted.
However, that turned out to be the highlight of this gathering, as Trine reeled off the next 37 points in the half to take a 37-7 lead into halftime. Thunder QB Eric Watt threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as Trine piled up the offensive yards against a Scots defense that competed hard but did not have the answers. Alma did not help their cause with two turnovers that stopped drives.
As the second half started, the Scots knew the task was tough, but they never quit trying. However, Trine played their "A" game on the cool, windy afternoon at Bahlke Field and marched down the field on their opening drive of the half. On the last play of a drive that lasted 3:44 on eight plays, Watt connected with Nick Leeman on a six-yard strike that made the score 44-7 early in the second half.
To nobody's surprise, the Alma offense came out aggressive as they tried to close the gap. The Scots drove 67 yards on 11 plays, taking 5:57 off the clock, and made the score 44-14 when McGrady again connected on a touchdown pass to Gray, this time from 14 yards out.
WR Brad Gray had two TD catches on Saturday
The final scoring of the game took place on the next possession of the contest, as Trine marched down field and scored on a one-yard touchdown run by RB Ian McCaffrey. The plunge capped a ten-play, 60-yard drive that took 4:18 and gave Trine the final margin of 51-14.
McGrady finished the game having completed 22 of 40 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the team with 37 yards rushing on nine carries, while Sr. RB Tyler Periard (Birch Run, MI/Birch Run) finished with 34 yards on six attempts.
Jr. WR Andrew Schaar (Dewitt, MI/Dewitt) led all Alma receivers with seven catches for 50 yards, while Periard had five receptions for 48 yards and Gray finished with four for 45 and the two scores.
Defensively, Sr. DB Bart Blystone (Mt. Pleasant, MI/Mt. Pleasant) led the Scots with 13 tackles (nine solo), including one for a loss and one pass break-up, while Sr. LB Brent Wills (Montabella, MI/Edmore) was next with 10.5 tackles (seven solo and one for a loss).
The bottom line was that Alma ran into a buzzsaw that was Trine's football team on Saturday afternoon, but there is a lot of season left. The Scots travel to Kalamazoo College next Saturday afternoon for a game that begins at 1:00 p.m. The next home game is against Olivet College on October 24, again with a 1:00 p.m. start at Bahlke Field.
Posted: Sat, October 10th, 2009 at 4:11PM
