ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine defense and running game made big plays at opportune moments to lead the Thunder to a 17-12 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran Saturday afternoon in Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium.
Charles Dreessen (Walkerton, Ind./John Glenn) made two huge defensive plays for the Thunder, as the defensive lineman picked off a pair of passes for the first time in his career. Dreessen finished the day with 10 tackles, the two interceptions, half a tackle for loss, one pass break-up and one quarterback hurry. The Thunder rushing attack pounded out 340 yards on 48 carries, good for a 7.1 yards per carry average. The performance was the fifth-best rushing total in a game in team history. Trine improved to 2-1 with the victory. Wisconsin Lutheran fell to 1-2.
Lamar Carswell (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales) led the rushing attack with 131 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. It was the second time the freshman has topped 100 yards in the first three games. Quarterback Evan Wyse (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) topped 100 yards for the first time in his career with 109 yards on 17 carries. He scored one touchdown.
Gino DeGeorge completed 25-of-41 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown for the Warriors. He was intercepted once. Mitch Skarban hauled in eight of those passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. Tanner Behnke led the defensive effort with 10 tackles, including two for loss.
A fourth-down stop led to the first Trine touchdown of the game. A Wisconsin Lutheran rushing attempt was stuffed by Taylor James (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) behind the line of scrimmage and the Thunder took over on their own 41.
Three plays later, Carswell broke a long run to paydirt. The 51-yard touchdown gave the the Thunder a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Carswell now has four TD runs on the season.
The Warriors answered on the ensuing drive, as DeGeorge hit Skurban up the left sideline for a 38-yard TD strike to knot the score late in the first quarter.
Dreessen's first pick halted a Wisconsin Lutheran drive deep in Trine territory. On a third and seven from the Thunder 21-yard line, Dreessen fought off a block to get his hands around a passing attempt. The senior rumbled the pick back 44 yards to set up the next Thunder score.
Mark Haydock (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider) connected on a 32-yard field goal to give Trine a 10-7 lead with 7:52 to play in the first half.
Trine's final drive of the half resulted in another touchdown. A 20-yard run by Wyse and a 40-yard rush by Frank Vuocolo (Jackson, Mich./Grass Lake) provided the big plays on the drive. Wyse punched in the final play of the drive from a yard out to make the score 17-7 with 1:42 to play in the first half.
The game would stay that way until a fumble on a punt return went through the Trine end zone for a safety to cut the Thunder lead to 17-9.
Wisconsin Lutheran's ensuing drive off the safety also resulted in points. Matt Grams connected on a 31-yard field goal to cut the score to 17-12 with 3:16 to play in the third quarter.
Each team came up with defensive stops the rest of the way. Dreessen came up with the dagger play on the defensive end for Trine, as he picked off his second pass on a fourth-and-four from the Thunder 42 in the closing minutes to seal the victory.
Trine held WL to a 3-of-16 conversion rate on third down. Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) made a team-high 12 tackles and forced a fumble.
Trine gets a bye week before returning to action Saturday, Oct. 3 at Alma. The game will be the MIAA-opener for the Thunder.