ANGOLA, Ind. - The Trine University football team was picked third in the preseason Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) coaches poll a season after their streak of three straight MIAA conference titles ended. Adrian College topped the poll with defending conference champion Albion College a close second. Trine was picked third, one point ahead of Hope College. Rounding out the poll was Alma, Kalamazoo and Olivet.
The Thunder will return eight starters on the offensive side of the ball including senior quarterback Ryan Hargraves who will lead a potent offense that includes a trio of returning wide receivers in seniors Mario Brown, Will Chrystal and First Team All-MIAA Ja Vontae Hence. The Thunder must replace their second all-time leading rusher in Kent Biller and will look to a quartet of players to solidify the run game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the squad returns seven starters and will look to All-North Region Second Team defensive back, senior Myron Puryear, to lead the way. Last year’s second leading tackler, senior Ben Mohr, will return to help lead the way at linebacker. The Thunder are young on the defensive line after losing all four starters from a season ago. The squad returns sack leader sophomore Aaron Wolf and junior Louis Danesi who was fourth on the team in tackles for loss.
Trine’s special teams will be solid for another season as the junior tandem of kicker Tyler Keck and All-MIAA Second Team punter Nic Muir will enter the year as the starters. Keck was second on the team in scoring and led the conference in PAT conversions last year while Muir was second in the conference in punting.
“The biggest key for us this year will be to stay healthy,” seventh-year head coach Matt Land said. “The other thing we are really talking about is being an angry team. We were not happy that we didn’t win the conference title last season. We are going to try and get the title back, but in this league you never know what is going to happen. I look forward to seeing how the season unfolds and it’s going to be a fun year.”
The Thunder will kick off the 2012 season as they open the year under the lights in their only night game of the season as they host Manchester on Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 pm. Trine will head out on the road for a pair of games against opponents they have never faced. Trine will take on Elmhurst (Ill.) on September 8, followed by the MIAA/NAC Challenge game on September 15 at Concordia (Wis.).
The Thunder will return home to face Taylor for the first time since Trine moved to Division III on September 22, the last time the two teams met was in 2002. Trine will then begin conference play on the road at Kalamazoo on September 29. The home conference schedule will begin the following week as the Thunder host defending conference champion Albion on October 6, which is scheduled as the 2012 homecoming weekend.
Trine will then head back out on the road for a matchup with Adrian on October 13. After a bye week, the Thunder will travel to Hope on October 27 before rounding out their season schedule with back-to-back home contests against Olivet (Nov. 3) and Alma (Nov. 10).
Poll Results (first-place votes in parenthesis): 1. Adrian (3) 10 pts. 2. Albion (3) 11. 3. Trine 16. 4. Hope (1) 17. 5. Alma 30. 6. Kalamazoo 31. 7. Olivet 32.
