ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University football team has released its schedule for the 2022 season.
Once again, the Thunder will begin their season under the lights with a Thursday night contest to be held on Sept. 1 in Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium. This season brings a new face to the opening opponent for the Thunder, who will face off with Anderson (Ind.) University for the first time in program history.
The team will then hit the road for a pair of contests against Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) opponents. The first comes once again under the lights when Trine looks to avenge a 31-30 loss from a year ago against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Last year's edition was the first matchup between the two engineering institutions. Rose-Hulman finished last season as the champions of the HCAC. This year's game is scheduled for Saturday Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
The team will then travel to Franklin College for the HCAC / MIAA Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 17. The contest renews a rivalry that was last played in 2009, when the Grizzlies came out just on top of a 30-29 game. The second to last was just as close and saw the Thunder win 30-27 over the nationally ranked Franklin squad.
The Thunder return home for their final non-conference contest when they host Centre College on Saturday, Sept. 24. Last year on the road, Trine came up just short falling to the Colonels 14-7 in a hard-fought contest. Centre went on to finish the season 8-2.
Trine starts the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) slate of games at home against Alma College. The contest will take place on the university's homecoming celebration and is slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1. In addition to the Scots the team will also host Albion College on Oct. 22 and Hope College on Nov. 5 for home games during the MIAA season. The latter pair were the only losses the team suffered during the conference play in 2021.
The road slate of the MIAA season will begin with the 2022 edition of the Border Brawl when the Thunder head to face Adrian College on Oct. 8. Last season the trophy went to Trine with a 36-20 victory. The team will also travel to face Olivet College on Oct. 15 and then finish the season on Nov. 12 at Kalamazoo College.
Trine finished the 2021 season 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA finishing third in the conference standings. Ten different members of the team were named All-MIAA following the season with junior Kyle Naif (Riverview, Mich. / Riverview) headlining the postseason awards receiving AFCA All-American honors.
