Category: College

The Trine Thunder went into their football game on Saturday still hoping for a share of the MIAA league title as they were hosting the Olivet Comets. Trine held up their end of the bargain, as they rolled over the Comets by the score of 49-21. But when the score of the Adrian – Albion was final at 20-19 Adrian, all the Thunder can hope for is a second place finish. Adrian won the title with a perfect 6-0 conference slate.

Trine raced out to a 21-7 halftime lead over Olivet, thanks to 2 rushing touchdowns from sophomore running back Austin Shoemaker, and a fumble recovery in the end zone after an errant snap on a punt attempt. It looked to me like John Essex recovered the fumble, but the stats I received say it was Blaek Combs.

The Thunder started quickly in the second half, as they scored on their second play from scrimmage on a 42 yard pass from Ryan Hargraves to JaVontae Hence. Trine would score 3 more TD’s in that second half. Hargraves would scamper in from 12 yards out, Shoemaker added his third score on a 28 yard screen pass, and Charles
Dreessen would pick up a blocked punt, and score from 24 yards out to complete the scoring for the Thunder.

Running back Tyre Alexander scored all three touchdowns for Olivet, on runs of 17, 1, and 4 yards.

Shoemaker gained 63 yards on 15 carries, while Hargraves had 55 yards on 6 carries, Jamil Davis had 44 yards on 5 carries, and Jared Barton had 17 yards on 7 totes.

Hargraves completed 10 of 12 passes for 176 yards, with Hence snaring 3 of those for 101 yards.

Tyler Guzy and Caleb Nitz led the Thunder with 9 tackles each, while Louis Danesi & Tony Miranda each had 6 stops.

Trine will finish the regular season this coming Saturday when they will host Alma College. A win will insure second place all by themselves in the MIAA. It will also be senior day at Shive Field, so come on out and see this fun & exciting team, and also pay tribute to this fine group of senior leaders.

Last Saturday was a great day for college football throughout the Midwest, and it was made even better by the fact that my youngest son, Ethan, was able to come home from college for a few days. Even though we weren’t able to see all of the game, we were able to watch the latter stages of the Ohio State game against Purdue.

It was a game that simply put, the Buckeyes just shouldn’t have won. The Boilermakers were in control throughout, and when backup quarterback Kenny Guiton of OSU threw an interception with 2:40 to go, it looked all but over.

I kept thinking at that point about the Ohio State game against Purdue 10 years earlier, late in the 2002 season. That was a game that has come to be known as the “Holy Buckeye” game, because of the phrase that Brent Musburger said when OSU somehow pulled that game from the throes of defeat to one of their greatest victories ever.

Back in 2002, the Buckeyes trailed 6-3, and faced a fourth & 1 at the Boiler 37 yard line, with no timeouts remaining, and just over a minute and half to play. Coach Jim Tressel had called a play that was supposed to be a short pass to the tight end. But when the pocket collapsed, quarterback Craig Krenzel stepped up and lofted a long pass towards Michael Jenkins who was streaking down the middle of the field. Jenkins caught the perfectly thrown ball in stride for the TD, and OSU held on for the 10-6 win. If that play doesn’t work, there is no national championship win over Miami at the end of the season.

Ethan & I both remember what we were doing when that play occurred. We had a DCBBL game at Waterloo Elementary School. We needed to get inside as our game time was quickly approaching, but we listened on the radio as the Krenzel to Jenkins catch unfolded, we hooted & hollered as the TD was scored, then went in to play our game (I was the coach).

So after the Guiton interception, even though all looked lost, I still had these eerie feelings about the 2002 game (sports fans know what I’m talking about). Could history somehow repeat itself? OSU got the ball back with 47 ticks of the clock remaining, and they were trailing by eight at 22-14. Guiton was playing because OSU starter and Heisman Trophy candidate Braxton Miller had been injured earlier in the contest. Guiton quickly connected on a couple of passes that had the Buckeyes facing a situation of having to score from the 2 yard line with under 10 seconds to play. Guiton threw a pass that was “low & outside” to wideout Chris Fields, who went down and cradled it just before it hit the ground. Then a beautifully conceived 2 point conversion pass to the tight end knotted the score with 3 ticks remaining on the clock.

OSU, now with all the momentum, scored first in OT on a short run by Carlos Hyde, and OSU held on to win 29-22. It kept their undefeated season alive in coach Urban Meyer’s first year at the helm.

The Buckeyes travel east today to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in what a lot of people are calling the “ineligible bowl,” as neither team can take part in a post season bowl game because of NCAA sanctions.

All I know, is that any time the Buckeyes are playing Purdue, I will make sure that Ethan is spending time with us at home.

The Trine Thunder traveled to Adrian, Michigan on Saturday to take on the Adrian Bulldogs in a football game that if they won, they would have sole possession of first place in the MIAA Conference.

It wasn’t meant to be, as Adrian put 10 points on the board in the second quarter, and they made it stand up, as they defeated Trine by the score of 10-3.

The loss ended a 3 game Thunder winning streak, and now they have to get help if they want to get a chance for a conference title. Adrian now leads the MIAA with a 3-0 league mark, as they now have won 5 games in a row overall.

On the wet rainy afternoon, Trine would drive between the twenties, but the offense would bog down as they neared the red zone. The Thunder would not score until just under 2 minutes remained when Tyler Keck knocked in a 22 yard field goal.

For Trine, Michael Inge rushed 13 times for 58 yards, JaVontae Hence caught 8 passes for 76 yards, and quarterback Ryan Hargraves was 11-18 for 116 yards passing. Myron Puryear, Michael Spears, and Caleb Nitz each had 9 tackles to lead the defense.

The Thunder are off this Saturday, and they return to action on the 27th, as they will travel to Hope College to take on the Dutchmen.

Saturday was a cool, crisp Autumn day up in Angola, Indiana, on the campus of Trine University. It was Homecoming weekend for the Thunder, as the Albion Britons came charging into town, looking to end Trine’s 2 game football winning streak.

As usually occurs right before kickoff, fireworks are set off to help get the crowd going. On this day, major fireworks went off right after kickoff, as just 2 minutes & 9 seconds into the game, the Thunder were sitting on a 14-0 lead.

Twenty-six seconds after the game got underway, senior quarterback Ryan Hargraves, who hails from Taylor, Michigan, made his way into the secondary on an option run over the left side, and he raced 83 yards to paydirt virtually untouched.

Then, when the Britons took over, Trine’s defense got into the act, as they forced a fumble, and another senior, defensive back Myron Puryear II, from Canton, Michigan, scooped up the loose pigskin over along the right sideline, and raced 79 yards for the Thunder’s second touchdown.

From there on out, it was a back and forth tussle, For the remainder of the first half, Trine would get a 4 yard touchdown scamper from Michael Inge, as well as a 32 yard field goal from Tyler Keck on the final play of quarter number 2, and the Thunder went to the lockerroom with a 24-12 lead.

But when Darrin Williams scored for Albion on a 10 yard run early in the fourth, the Trine lead was down to 2 at 24-22. Things were getting a bit antsy for the home team.

The defense for the Thunder would then rise up and take over, keyed by an incredible game from junior defensive back Blaek Combs. Combs, from Rushville, Indiana, seemed to be everywhere, and seemed to be in on every tackle. It was appropriate that on the final play for the Britons, a desperation pass down near the Trine goal line, Combs would be there to pick it off, and seal the game for the Thunder. For his superb effort, Combs was our “Dekalb TV Player of the Game.”

With the victory, the Thunder now stand at 4-2 overall on the season, and more importantly, they sit at 2-0 in the MIAA Conference, going into a very tough road battle next Saturday at Adrian College. Game time is 4:00 pm.

Up until this point in the college football season, I have been somewhat hesitant to post a story about my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes. Even though the hiring of one of the best college coaches in the country, Urban Meyer, was a great move to get OSU past the final season of the Jim Tressel tenure, I wanted to see a signature win before I began to “chat them up.”

Well, this past Saturday up in East Lansing, Michigan, Meyer & his Buckeyes certainly provided that, as they won a hard fought, physical battle with the Michigan State Spartans by the score of 17-16. It was a win against a tough opponent, on the Spartans home turf no less, that have people starting to say, that yes, the Buckeyes might be back.

OSU dominated at the line of scrimmage. That was in my mind, the key to the game. They held Columbus, Ohio native Le’Veon Bell, one of the nation’s leading rushers, to just 45 yards on 17 carries. His longest run was 8 yards, and more impressive, it was the first time since his freshman season that one of his carries did not result in a first down.

Once again, it was the Braxton Miller show on the offensive side of the ball, as the sophomore had over 300 yards of total offense. His 63 yard scoring strike to Devin Smith in the 3rd quarter gave OSU a 17-13 lead, and the defense would make it stand up the rest of the way.

After wins over Miami of Ohio, UCF, Cal, and UAB, the victory over the Spartans makes the 5-0 start a little more impressive. It doesn’t get any easier though, as Ohio State will come home to host the Nebraska Cornhuskers this Saturday. Nebraska came from 17 down on Saturday to get a win over Wisconsin.

Go Bucks! O-H-I-O!

The Trine University Thunder opened their 2012 football season on Thursday night, as they hosted the Manchester Spartans at Shive Field.

Trine, with 15 starters returning from last season’s 7-3 campaign, were looking to get the season started in a big way against the young Manchester ballclub.

The Spartans had other ideas as they went toe-to-toe with the Thunder throughout the first half. Senior quarterback Ryan Hargraves had given Trine a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 2 yard dash around left end.

That was the only scoring until Austin Adams scored for Manchester on a 4 yard scamper with 3:28 to go in the first half, and the Trine faithful were getting a bit uneasy.

But then, in the blink of an eye, senior return man Myron Puryear, who also doubles as one of the best defensive backs in the country, took the ensuing kickoff, started up the middle, headed for the right sideline, and went untouched 92 yards for the go ahead score, and the Thunder had momentum, as well as control of the game back on their sideline.

Trine added a 39 yard field goal by Tyler Keck right before halftime, and the Thunder had some breathing room as they went to the lockerroom with a 10 point cushion at 17-7.

The Spartans made it interesting, as they scored in the 4th quarter to pull within 3 at 17-14, but another short touchdown jaunt by Hargraves sealed the deal for the Thunder.

As you look back and analyze everything that transpired during the contest, in my mind, it was certainly the Puryear kickoff return that changed the fortunes of both teams on this night, and gave Coach Matt Land and his Trine Thunder another season opening W.