Angola, Ind. – The Trine University football team lost a nail-biter Saturday night in its home opener, falling to Bluffton University 37-31 at Zollner Stadium.
Bluffton quickly went ahead 14-0 with a 25-yard run by Dante Carroll and an 18-yard pass from Conner Sheehan to Micah Roberson. The Beavers took advantage of three Thunder turnovers to take a 14-3 lead after the first quarter.
The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, each on eight-yard scoring passes. Trine's touchdown came on a fade from Brandon Rooze (West Lafayette, Ind. / Benton Central) to Andrew Bonfiglio (Toledo, Ohio / St. Francis de Sales). Bonfiglio went on to haul in 12 passes for 158 yards and the touchdown. Rooze completed 21-of-39 passes for 299 yards and two scoring strikees.
The Thunder stormed back with two straight scores in the third quarter to go up 24-21. Lamar Carswell (Toledo, Ohio / St. Francis de Sales) pulled Trine within 21-17 with his first of two touchdown runs on the opening drive of the second half. The second Thunder score came on a long pass from Rooze to Jeffery Barnett (Fremont, Ohio / Fremont-Ross), who broke away from a defender and outraced the secondary to paydirt from 52 yards out. Barnett caught four passes for 90 yards and the touchdown, which put Trine up 24-21.
Bluffton tied it with a field goal, and then went ahead 31-24 early in the fourth on a touchdown pass from Conner Sheehan to Raphael Dell.
Trine answered once again, tying it up at 31 with 9:15 to play. An eight-play, 75-yard drive was capped by a Carswell TD run on a sweep to the right.
Carroll busted off a 54-yard run with 6:39 remaining to give Bluffton the lead for good. The PAT failed, leaving the score 37-31. Trine got within striking distance, but a catch off a Hail Mary pass attempt was ruled out-of-bounds as time expired.
Carroll had 25 carries for 185 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers, and receivers Micah Roberson (7 catches, 109 yards) and Raphael Dell (4 catches, 115 yards) each eclipsed 100 yards. Sheehan was 14-of-19 with 201 yards passing, two touchdowns, and an interception.
Carswell finished with 22 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Thunder. He added three catches for 30 yards. Carswell notched back-to-back 100-yard rushing efforts for the first time in his career. The sophomore has four 100-yard performances inhis career.
On the defensive side of the ball, Jake Harmon led Bluffton with 12 tackles, and Dustin Williams (Greencastle, Ind. / Greencastle) paced Trine with a career-high 11 tackles and a sack. Cayleel Hill (Owings Mills, Md. / Owings Mills) added his second interception in as many weeks.
The Thunder (1-1) travel to Aurora, Illinois, Saturday, September 17th, to play Aurora University. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
Article contributed by Grant Tingley, Trine University, Communication New Media '19
