ANGOLA, Ind. – The comeback attempt was just short with the Trine University football team falling to visiting Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology by the score of 30-28.
Senior Alex Price turned in a gutsy performance in the loss, setting a new program record for passing yards in a game along the way. Price finished the game 23 for 35 for 426 yards and four touchdowns. He surpasses the previous record holder, Brandon Rooze, by just two yards, setting a new mark after seven years.
Despite the eventually record-breaking offensive play, the first quarter was completely in favor of the Fightin' Engineers. The visitors opened the game with a 70-yard touchdown pass directly following the opening kickoff. Their second drive of the day was a methodical 13-play, 90-yard affair that ended just as successfully.
They ended the period with a 14-0 lead, before quickly adding three points to start the second up 17-0.
After the field goal Trine finally found some offensive success. Senior Xaine Kirby broke a 16-yard run to start the ensuing drive, before Price went 24-yards on the second play and adding ten more on a Rose-Hulman penalty. Price finished the drive a few plays later with a short pass to fellow upperclassman Connor Arthur.
The Engineers responded with another scoring drive of their own to build the deficit back to 17 at 24-7. After their defense picked off Price for the second time in the half, their offense had its first failed drive. The Thunder forced the punt after just two first downs.
Price led 10-play drive that looked set to finish the half with more points for the home team, but a missed field goal sent the teams to the locker rooms with the 24-7 score intact.
The Trine coaching staff went to work during the intermission, and it paid off with both offensive and defensive units dominating the third quarter. Price connected with Arthur for a 55-yard touchdown on the team's first drive of the second half, cutting the score to 24-14 in just under two minutes of game time.
The defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Rose-Hulman drive, on the back of some strong pass coverage. Price completed another long pass after the punt, this time a 52-yard pass to sophomore Rashawn Street, to cut the deficit to three at 24-21.
The Fightin' Engineers slowed down the pace of play with their next drive, utilizing the running game to score another touchdown after a four-minute drive. It didn't go all to plan however with sophomore Elijah Bouyer crashing through the line to block the extra point attempt making the score 30-21.
Price followed up with the longest scoring drive of the night, by time of possession, for the Thunder. He eventually connected with senior Brandon Kline on a 20-yard pass to score the team's fourth touchdown of the night and make the score 30-28.
Things went off the rails for both teams in the fourth quarter. Rose-Hulman was forced to punt on their first two drives of the quarter while the Thunder missed another field goal and threw another interception on their first two drives. The Trine defense came up huge after that interception, forcing a turnover on downs and giving the offense a final chance to win the game. It was not to be with a third Thunder field goal attempt going wide as time expired on the contest.
Kirby led the team in rushing finishing with 101 yards on his 19 attempts. Price finished second with 38 yards and sophomore Jermaine Williams finished with 18 yards on just three attempts. Kline and Arthur each finished the game with just over 100 yards of receiving, while classmate Kale Lawson finished with 75.
Four Trine defenders finished the game with double-digit tackles. Both Tucker Hasselman and Matthew Jimenez finished with 12 tackles while Joseph Johnson came in with 11 and Wes VanHooser had 10. Johnson also led the team with 1.5 tackles for a loss and a pass breakup.
The Thunder fall to 1-1 following the loss and Rose-Hulman takes the slight edge in the series with wins in two of three games. Trine will host Franklin College in their next game which is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 16.