Football team falls to Hope, 16-8

In a defensive battle, the Olivet College football team fell to Hope College, 16-8, this afternoon at the Cutler Athletic Complex. With the win, Hope (6-3, 6-0 MIAA) secures the 2006 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship, while the Comets (5-4, 4-2 MIAA) drop into a tie for second-place in the MIAA standings.

For the game, the teams combined for 336 yards of total offense. The Flying Dutchmen were limited to 83 rushing yards and 64 passing yards. Olivet was held to minus 24 rushing yards and 213 passing yards.

Hope got on the scoreboard with 4:28 left in the first quarter when Jake Manning found Doug VanEerden open in the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown. Chris Bowen made the PAT kick. There was no more scoring in the opening quarter. The Dutchmen made the score 10-0 at halftime on a 31-yard field goal by Bowen.

After a scoreless third quarter, Hope stretched its lead to 16-0 with 3:24 remaining in the game. Troy Blasius returned an interception 84 yards for a touchdown. Bowen missed the PAT kick. The Comets reached the end zone on their next possession. An eight-play, 52-yard drive was capped off by a 12-yard touchdown reception by senior Chris Smith (Dimondale/Holt) from junior Rob White (Caledonia/South Christian). The two-point conversion attempt was good as sophomore Carl Mulder (Battle Creek/Lakeview) caught a pass from White.

For Olivet, freshman Pat Clasgens (Livonia/Stevenson) had 10 carries for 15 yards. White completed 11-of-16 passes for 111 yards, while junior Calvin McNamara (Gaylord) tossed for 92 yards on 10-of-15 passing. Smith was the leading receiver with seven catches for 75 yards. Mulder caught five passes for 64 yards.

Defensively, junior DeRan Thomas (Detroit/H.W. Notre Dame) had a team-high six solo tackles and nine total tackles. Matt Reinhardt (Gaylord), Michael Terranova (Lansing Catholic) and Hakeem Yakubu (Kalamazoo/Central) each had six tackles.

Hope was led by David Booko with 23 rushes for 69 yards. Jake Manning completed two-of-21 passes for 64 yards. Kevin Roschek led the Dutchmen defense with 13 tackles. Zach Huizing finished with 10 tackles, including nine solo stops.

Olivet concludes its season next Saturday, Nov. 11, when it travels to play Kalamazoo College. Kickoff from Angell Field is 1 p.m.