Hope football picks six passes to dominate Olivet
OLIVET - The Hope College football team bounced back from a first-place loss to Alma last week with a dominating 45-7 win over Olivet College on Saturday.
The Flying Dutchmen improved to 6-2 and 3-1 in the MIAA and remained in second place.
"It was a huge bounce-back," Hope coach Peter Stuursma said. "The first half, our guys played lights out: offensively, defensively and special teams. We made some big plays."
Those big plays started on defense with six interceptions, including one by Brad Raredon on the first possession of the game.
The next big play was the very next play as Hope quarterback Zach Trainor hit receiver Grand Holtzer for a 65-yard touchdown pass.
Later in the half, Trainor hit Shawn Foster for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
Another interception followed just 20 seconds later as Bryce Debri grabbed an Olivet pass and ran it in to the end zone giving Hope a 31-0 halftime lead. Debri had two interceptions in the game.
"After last week's physical game, we got almost everyone in today," Stuursma said. "Everyone was actively involved, too. It was fun to see guys put last week behind us and move forward."
More: Hope football overmatched in first-place battle with Alma
Trainor was 4-for-7 passing for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Ben Wellman was 5-for-10 passing for 148 yards. Welman led the rushing attack with 45 yards and two touchdowns. Elijah Smith also ran for a score.
Tyler Stezowski (Hamilton) led the defense with 10 tackles. Trevor Hansen, Nick Flegler and Darion Nundley also had interceptions.
Olivet dropped to 3-4 and 1-2 in the MIAA.
Hope plays Kalamazoo next week.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope football picks six passes to dominate Olivet
