ANDERSON, Ind. – Both the defensive and offensive units were in midseason form as the Trine University football team opened the season with a dominating 61-0 victory over their hosts from Anderson (Ind.) University.
The 61 points is the highest total for the Thunder since 2017 when the team defeated Monmouth College by the score of 63-24 in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship tournament. It is the largest margin of victory for Trine since 2010 when the program defeated Bluffton University 76-6.
The Ravens received the opening kickoff in the game, but after seven plays, they were forced to punt. Senior Xaine Kirby broke a run for 24 yards on the first play from scrimmage for the Thunder offense with 15 more added on after a face mask call against the home team. Kirby gained five more before senior Alex Price finished off the drive with two more runs to reach the endzone.
The next Anderson drive ended with a more emphatic turnover. This time sophomore Konstantine Thrasivoulou picked off a pass and ran it 45 yards back to the endzone. The pick-six gave the team a 14-0 lead.
After another defensive stop, the Thunder would put together a three minute, 37-yard drive that ended with Kirby scampering into the endzone for another touchdown. Price threw a touchdown pass to sophomore Jermaine Williams a few drives later to build the lead to 28-0.
Senior Jamon Gibson made the next splash play for the defense when he picked off a pass that was made errant by pressure against the Raven quarterback. Gibson ran back the interception 70 yards, just missing out on a pick-six of his own by stepping out of bounds at the Anderson 15 yard line. The play was the highlight of a mammoth game for Gibson who led the team with a pair of sacks while finishing third with four total tackles.
Freshman Ridge Howard also turned in a strong defensive performance leading the team with six tackles while recording an interception of his own. Senior Joseph Johnson finished in second with five tackles.
The Thunder led 34-0 at halftime. They scored again on the opening drive of the second half before pulling the offensive starters for the remainder of the game. Kirby finished his day with a 10-yard run during that final drive bringing his total to 72, enough to not just lead the team but to also help him surpass 2000 career rushing yards at Trine. He is fourth in program history since the school joined NCAA Division III.
Price led the way through the air. He finished the night with three touchdown passes on 184 yards. He added 28 yards on the ground along with a rushing touchdown. Senior Brandon Kline and sophomore John Clampitt joined Williams in catching touchdowns during the game.
Juniors Dominic Crowder and Adam Dafoe along with freshman Craig Nichols added rushing touchdowns in the second half as the Thunder built the final lead of 61-0.
The lone mar to the perfect scorecard were a pair of missed extra points that kept the Thunder from reaching 63 points. Extra points and kickoffs were the lone action that special teams saw during the evening, with Trine never punting the ball.
The team will look to follow up the dominating performance when they return home for their next contest. The home opener is scheduled for Saturday, September 9 at 7 p.m. and features a recently formed rivalry matchup against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. This will be just the third time the two teams have met on the gridiron, but both previous iterations have featured one-point score margins. The first game went to the Fightin' Engineers while last season the Thunder came out on top.