ANGOLA, Ind. – The defense led the way in a convincing 17-0 victory for the Trine University football team over visiting Centre College. The defense has not allowed a point inside of the Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium, with both home games so far this season ending in shutout victories.
The Thunder forced four turnovers in the contest and recorded eight tackles for a loss, including four sacks as they held the Colonels to just 159 yards of total offense. That total included just 17 rushing yards, the second time this season the team has held the opposition to under 20 yards.
After losing the coin toss, Trine would start the game on offense and immediately showed that they would be attacking through the air. Senior quarterback Alex Price found classmate Kale Lawson for a 28-yard pass on the first play of the game. He followed it up with a delayed rush up the middle for 15 more yards, then completed another 28-yard pass, this time to junior Connor Arthur. The drive stalled on the one-yard line when the team failed to punch it into the endzone.
The ensuing drive for the Colonels was a short one and the offense retook the field on Centre's side of the fifty. Price recorded another long pass completion to Lawson to give the team another first and goal opportunity. This time the drive ended in an interception, the lone blemish on Price's day.
The next two drives for the Colonels and one for the Thunder were quick, bringing an end to the first quarter with the score still 0-0.
The Thunder received a punt early in the second quarter beginning the drive on their own 25-yard line. After getting the ball moving with some intermediate passes, the team settled in to a rushing attack. Sophomore Dominic Crowder ran the ball up the middle of the field for four plays in a row, gaining five or more yards on each attempt. Senior Xaine Kirby then finished off the drive with a pair of runs, the second of which ended with him diving into the endzone.
Following the extra point by sophomore Anthony Hentz the team had a 7-0 lead with just over five minutes of the quarter expired.
The defense forced a three and out on the next drive for Centre. Senior Austin Zank came up with two big plays to secure the shortened drive. He recorded the team's first sack of the game on second down before combining with teammate Jacob Jackson to stop a running play short of the yard to gain.
The Thunder offense started their next drive from their own 20-yard line and slowly but surely worked their way down the field. Price began the drive with three passes to three different receivers to get the ball just onto the oppositions side of the field. The next two plays were a two-yard net loss giving the team a third-and-12. Price picked up seven of those yards with pass to Lawson, before converting the fourth down with a completion to junior Rodney Johnson.
The drive continued with rushing plays following the pickup, leading to an eventual third and goal play at the five-yard line. Price kept the ball himself and dove into the endzone to give the team a 14-0 lead, after another Hentz conversion.
Aside from giving Trine a 14-0 lead, the drive took 7:38 off the clock leaving just 20 seconds for the Colonels to try to put points on the board. After two quick completions the team had a chance to throw a hail mary pass to end the half, but junior Jamon Gibson ended the play with a sack, the team's second of the game.
Centre began the second half with the ball and drove to midfield before the Thunder defense, led by Gibson and junior Skylar Warren, came up with a fourth down stop. After a quick drive for Trine, the Colonels got the ball back and put together their most successful drive of the day. It would last 13 plays and take just over six minutes off the clock.
They made it as far as the Trine 36-yard line during the drive, but from there Gibson recorded his second sack of the game to force a third and long. Senior Jacob Yoder then broke up a pass at the line to force the fourth down play which would end in a bad snap and a turnover on downs.
The Thunder offense received the ball with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter and proceeded to milk the clock with a 17-play drive that took 10:24 off the clock. The team twice converted on fourth down to keep possession. The drive ended with a 29-yard field goal from sophomore Colton Wampler, giving the team a three-score lead at 17-0 and leaving the opposition with just five minutes to make up the deficit.
The defense continued to stifle Centre's offense. Jackson recorded a sack on the first play of the next drive to put them way behind the chains. A few plays later Jackson once again harried the quarterback this time forcing an errant pass that senior Jaylin Page picked off.
The Colonels ended up with one more chance with the ball and were able to drive from around midfield to the Trine one-yard line. From there, their quarterback ran into the back of his offensive lineman and fumbled the ball. Senior Marques Tagliaferri came up with the loose ball to end the game.
The Thunder dominated time of possession in the contest. They finished the game with nearly 37 of the game's 60 minutes. Their three scoring drives combined to take nearly 25 minutes off the clock.
Price ended the game with 255 yards in the air while going 18-for-30, he added another 40 yards on the ground, leading the team in both categories. Crowder finished the game second in rushing yards with 33.
Eight different members of the Trine receiving corps finished the game with at least one catch. Lawson led the way with 117 yards and Arthur was second with 60.
Defensively senior Keysean Amison led the team with seven total tackles, one of which was for a loss. Classmate Marc Guerrero was tied for second with Gibson each with five.
Trine improves to 4-0 following the victory, which marks the end of the nonconference portion of the season. They will host Alma College to begin the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) portion of the season. The Scots also enter the contest 4-0. The two teams one common opponent so far this season, with both teams recording lopsided victories over Anderson (Ind.) University.
The game will also serve as Homecoming for the Thunder. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 1.