ANGOLA, Ind. – A potent rushing attack aided by a defensive and special teams touchdown, secured a 14-point comeback victory for the Trine University football team. They defeated visiting Adrian College by the score of 34-14 to retain possession of the Border Brawl Trophy on Homecoming.
The first half belonged to the Bulldogs. While the Thunder offense was able to move the ball, they failed to score points. Their best drive of the half was their first where they went 67 yards on 12 plays to set up a field goal attempt. The wind played havoc on the attempt sending it wide and leaving the team scoreless.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, took their opening drive of the game 61 yards on five plays for a touchdown. With the wind at their back they were able to connect on a long pass to set up the touchdown run.
After forcing a punt by Trine, Adrian got their second score still with the wind at their backs. After the Thunder defensive front jumped offsides to give the Bulldogs a free play, the connected on a 40-yard pass for the touchdown.
The second quarter turned into a true defensive battle. Trine was stopped on a three fourth down attempts and senior Alex Price through an interception on another drive.
On the other side of the ball, the Thunder defense changed the momentum of the entire game in the final three minutes. Senior Jamon Gibson landed a devastating hit on the Adrian quarterback to force a bad pass that was intercepted by Trey Richards. While Trine didn't score on the ensuing drive the team had a different look following the play, with Gibson and the defensive line taking full control going forward.
Adrian took the tentative 14-0 lead into halftime.
The first drive of the second half was the Xaine Kirby show. The senior running back gained all but eight of the team's 60 yards on the drive. He ended the drive with a 13-yard run for the team's first touchdown of the game cutting the lead to 14-7.
After the defense forced a three-and-out on the next drive, the running game went back to work. Kirby shared touches with freshman Craig Nichols on the drive carrying the ball to the one yard line. Price lined up under center for the first time in the game to gain the last yard and tie the game at 14.
After another stop by the Thunder defense, with Gibson earning a quarterback hurry and sharing a sack with Kendall Himes to lead the way, the Bulldogs were forced to punt again, this time from their own 22 yard line. Troy Miller broke through the protection and blocked the punt before Cole Dean ended up on top of the ball in the endzone to give Trine their first lead of the day at 21-14.
Troubles continued for Adrian with Charles Thompson getting Trine's second interception of the day. The next drive for the Thunder wasn't ass successful but still ended in points with Anthony Hentz connecting on a 45-yard field goal.
The defense continued its relentless assault on the Bulldog backfield on the next drive. Gibson, with help from Tristan Kern, recorded a forced fumble and another sack. The ball bounced between both teams before ending up in the endzone in the hands of Tamir Woods increasing the lead to 31-14 in favor of Trine.
The hits kept coming for the Trine defense. Grant Hickle started the next Adrian drive with a nine yard sack, before Joseph Johnson forced another turnover, this time on a fumble by the running back.
Another Hentz field goal gave the team their final lead of 34-14, before the Thunder offense slowly ran out the clock to end the game.
Trine finished the game with 442 total yards of offense, with 284 coming on the ground. Kirby led the stable of running back with 107 yards, while both Saleem Felder and Nichols ended the game with 81 yards.
The true stars of the game were the defense, in particular the defensive front seven. The team ended the game with three quarterback hurries, ten tackles for a loss and five sacks in the game.
Gibson led the way for the group with 2.5 sacks in the contest, becoming the new program career sacks leader in the process. He also finished with a team high eight tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
The Thunder improve to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play following the victory. They will be home again next weekend when they host The University of Olivet for a 1 p.m. contest. The game is set to be played on Saturday, October 14.
