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Angola, IN – Alma Football traveled down to Indiana to take on Trine in their MIAA opener. Alma stunned the Thunder, winning 40-21.
Things didn't exactly click offensively off the jump. The defenses came to play early, and 3 of the first 6 drives ended in a turnover of some kind. The Scots recovered a fumble on the opening drive, but were forced to punt. After a few stalled drives, Alma would snag an interception. Their drive would be cut short near the goal line after an amazing interception from a Thunder linebacker.
Alma got on the board on the next drive. The Scots picked up a safety to go up 2-0. That was all it took for the offense to kickstart. The visitors would double up with a Cole Thomas touchdown pass from Carter St. John on the ensuing possession to extend the lead to 9. After a Trine punt pinned Alma on their own goal line, the offense went on the drive of the game. The Scots put together a 22 play, 99 yard drive culminating in a Nate Webb touchdown from Davin Reif. Alma wasn't done with the long drives. The next drive for the visitors was 93 yards long, but this one spanned just 4 plays, with Nate Goralski taking a pass in stride from St. John 77 yards to the house. Trine would score and it was 23-7 at the half.
Alma came out looking to extend their lead. It wouldn't take long as the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter was taken 67 yards by Eddie Williams to the endzone to push the lead to 30-7, one more Webb touchdown from Reif made it 37-7. Trine scored 14 unanswered, but Alma got the last points of the game on a 28 yard field goal to cap off a 9 play, 68 yard drive. That brought the score to its final reading of 40-21.
Offense was the name of the game, with Alma outgaining Trine 506-386. Carter St. John led the aerial attack, going 20-35 for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns. Davin Reif also went 2-2 for 6 yards and 2 touchdowns. Eddie Williams carried the load on the ground with 25 carries for 185 yards. Nate Goralski grabbed a game high 10 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Odin Soffredine and Gage Nelson headed the charge with 8 tackles. Nelson forced and recovered a fumble, which was one of four turnovers forced by the Alma defense. Austin Flowers grabbed a pair of interceptions, and Aden Gurden snagged a pick as well.
"Today's win was great. All phases of the game excelled. Our players worked very hard this past week and our assistants were outstanding in their preparation. I'm so proud of this team", said Head Coach Jason Couch.
Alma improves to 5-0 on the season, and is off to a 1-0 start in MIAA play. The Scots have a bye week next week before hosting Hope College on October 15th.
Story Credit: Nick Nemeth, Sports Information Director