ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University football team continued its impressive play and remained undefeated with a 55-7 win against Wisconsin Lutheran College on Homecoming at Zollner Athletic Stadium. The win moves Trine to 3-0 on the year, marking the first season the Thunder have started out 3-0 since the 2013 season.
The Thunder recorded another impressive day rushing with 400 yards and ended the game with 564 total yards (400 rushing and 164 passing). Quarterback Evan Wyse (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) led the ground attack with a game and career-high 131 yards on eight carries (13.8 yards per carry) and one touchdown. Junior running back Lamar Carswell (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) also had an impressive day with 98 yards on 17 carries (5.8 ypc.) and found the endzone three times. Freshman NiShawn Jones (Fort Wayne, Ind./New Haven) added 56 yards in 10 attempts (5.6 ypc.) and had a TD. Senior Mark Wilson (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) scored twice while racking up 44 yards on 15 carries.
In addition to running for over 100 yards, Wyse completed eight-of-16 passes for 164 yards.
Senior wideout Andrew Bonfiglio (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) and junior Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio/Ross) were Wyse's top two targets with three catches each. Bonfiglio led all receivers in yardage with 88 and Barnett had 46 yards.
Defensively, Trine held Wisconsin Lutheran to 193 yards of offense, including just 67 yards rushing. Junior J.J. Fierro (Kokomo, Ind./Maconaquah) led the team with seven stops (six solo and one assist) and had one tackle for loss. The Thunder defense also recorded a pair of interceptions by junior Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) and sophomore Simeon Washington (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) to go along with two fumble recoveries by sophomore Joe Steigmeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) and senior Me'Leick Miles (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike).
The majority of the first quarter was played to a scoreless tie until just under the five minute mark when Trine (3-0) got on the board with the first of three Carswell rushing touchdowns to make the score 7-0. Following a three-and-out on Wisconsin Lutheran's (0-3) ensuing possession, the Thunder struck again with Carswell's second score, this time on a two-yard scamper to end a nine-play, 45-yard drive, with 23 seconds to go in the period and made it a 14-0 advantage after the opening 15 minutes.
Trine took control with a 17-point second quarter that saw Wyse score on a 20-yard scamper, an 18-yard run by Carswell and a 29-yard field goal by sophomore Lucas Garza (Syracuse, Ind./Wawasee) to make it a 31-0 shutout at the intermission.
The second half opened with Trine getting the ball and was set up with excellent field position as Barnett went 50 yards to put the Thunder offense at the Warrior 37-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Wyse ran for 35 yards to get to the Wisconsin Lutheran two-yard line. After back-to-back one-yard carries by Wilson, which included his first of two TD runs, Trine extended the margin to 38-0. The Thunder kept the pressure going as a fumble recovery by Miles on the Warriors' next possession, led to a two-yard run by Wilson to find the endzone and make it a 45-0 ball game with 9:54 to play in the period. After another turnover by Wisconsin-Lutheran following Wilson's second score of the game, freshman kicker Ike Sheehan (Rushville, Ind./Rushville) connected on a 38-yard field goal try to round out the scoring in the third and put Trine out in front, 48-0.
On a drive that began late in the third and carried over into the fourth, Trine tallied its final points of the game on a three-yard run by NiShawn Jones (Fort Wayne, Ind./New Haven) that ended an 11-play, 30-yard drive and gave the Thunder a 55-0 advantage. Wisconsin Lutheran did get on the scoreboard late with a two-yard TD run to end an eight-play, 73 yard drive, but the game was already well in hand for Trine who went on to post the 55-7 final.
Next Saturday will be the scheduled "off week" for Trine and will resume the season on Sept. 30 when the football team travels to River Forest, Ill. for a non-conference game against Concordia (Ill.) University. The game is scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. EST.
