Hope College offense sputters in MIAA loss to Adrian
HOLLAND - Hope College tallied its lowest point total in a game since 2016 the Flying Dutchmen fell 22-10 to visiting Adrian College Saturday.
Hope gained 284 yards on the game and never led, and it seemed like it was an uphill battle all day for the Dutchmen offense in the MIAA opener.
“I thought they were tougher than us, I thought they were stronger than us, they outcoached us,” said Hope coach Peter Stuursma. “They beat us in every facet of the game. They beat us. We have a lot of soul searching to do.”
The last time Hope had scored fewer than 17 points in a regular-season game was a 15-13 loss to Olivet, Stuursma’s first season on the job.
Adrian got out to a 10-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Aaron Jenkins and a 21-yard field goal by Walker Evans. Hope countered with a three-yard touchdown run by Dan Romano, only to see Adrian score on a 31-yard pass from Jenkins to Kenny Kujawa to make it 16-7.
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Hope’s Dylan Hillger ended the first half with a 50-yard field goal to cut it to 16-10, setting the school record for longest field goal in the process.
Adrian got the only score of the second on a 38-yard run by Jenkins. The Bulldogs moved to 4-1 and 1-0 in the MIAA, and they host Trine next Saturday.
The loss dropped Hope to 3-2 on the season and 0-1 in MIAA play. They head to Albion next Saturday.
Dual threat downs Hope
Jenkins ended the day with 20 carries for 118 yards and two touchdowns, but he started the day going deep. He went 8-for-14 passing for 185 yards, but connected on deep passes with Andrew Thomas, Ben Coloske and Keontae Johnson in the first quarter alone. Then he hit Kujawa for the long score in the second quarter.
The passing game slowed down in the second half, and when Jenkins found the end zone for the second time on the ground in the third quarter, it really set him up to help wind down the clock as the game went on.
Sophomore linebacker Andrew Debri had 13 tackles, 2.5 for a loss and one sack, including a big tackle for loss on Jenkins on a third down in the fourth quarter. But was aware of just how hard Jenkins made things for his unit all day.
“Him being dual threat was a challenge,” Debri said. “We just didn’t do a good enough job as a defense and as a team. Too many missed assignments that we need to clean up for next week.”
'Zero rhythm'
On the other side, Hope’s offense never found the identity it was searching for. The Dutchmen ran the ball 30 times for 75 yards, and the passing game struggled to click.
Hope quarterback Chase Brown went 20-for-36 for 209 yards, but the passing attack had dropped balls and some miscommunication on the routes throughout the game.
Brown’s only two interceptions came in the late fourth quarter down 12, throwing a pick in the end zone that could have cut the lead to six. He also threw one on the next drive when the Flying Dutchmen were searching for a miracle comeback.
Stuursma didn’t need to look at the statistics to know the offense, which hadn’t scored fewer than 28 points all season, didn’t have the game they wanted.
“We had zero rhythm,” Stuursma said. “We did not have a flow of the game where we just felt like we were one step ahead, where we were moving the ball consistently. We got exposed.”
TJ McKenzie had nine catches for 93 yards and Ian Rampersad had five catches for 63 yards.
Hillger’s history
Heading into Saturday, the Hope College record for longest field goal was held by Sam Albritten (2019), Darren Ford (2016, twice), and Hillger, all at 46 yards.
Hillger hit from that distance in 2021, and trotted out to try and best it at the end of the second quarter from four yards further.
He did with ease, cutting the Bulldog lead to six points. He’d later try to cut the lead again from 44 yards, but missed right. It was still a moment to remember for the senior kicker.
“It shouldn’t have been that long, because we took two sacks,” Stuursma said. “Dylan’s been outstanding for us. Kudos to Dylan, he’s been great. 50 yards is a long way.”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College offense sputters in MIAA loss to Adrian
