ANGOLA, Ind. – In the first meeting between the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rivals, the Trine University football team came out atop of visiting Calvin University by the score of 35-30.

It was a record-breaking day on the defensive side of the ball with the Thunder coming up with an incredible 11 sacks spread among 11 different student-athletes. The team also recorded three forced fumbles, tied for most in program history.

Despite the final records for the team, the first year Knights put the defense on their heels with a lightning quick no-huddle offensive strategy. After receiving the opening kickoff, they quickly scored to take an early 7-0 lead.

Led by Ivyn Collins, the home offense looked ready to respond on their first drive. Saleem Felder started the game with a pair of decent runs, followed by a deep pass completion to Evan Walker, setting up the Thunder just outside the redzone. The first penalties of many penalties in the game stalled the drive and forced a punt.

The Thunder defense showed up for the second drive, allowing one first down before forcing the turnover. On a third and ten play, Colson Conrad applied the devastating pressure to the opposition's quarterback, recording not only the sack but a forced fumble and recovery.

Despite a short field the Trine offense turned the ball over on downs giving the ball right back to the Knights. Another defensive stop by the Thunder followed, this time led by a break up by Daniel Budwah on a third and three play.

This time Cole Alexander took the field at quarterback for the team and led a more successful drive for the team. Felder opened the drive with a five yard run, followed by Alexander drawing a defensive pass interference call for the first down. A few more Felder runs ended the quarter with a fourth and nine play at the Calvin 33.
Out of the break, the Thunder left the offense on the field and Alexander completed on a deep pass to Jermaine Williams for a touchdown. Williams made the acrobatic catch, despite the ball being a touch high. After a successful extra point the game was tied at seven.

The defense came up with another stop on the next Calvin drive, this time led by a pair of sacks for the defense. The first by Jahari Branch and the other by Preston Sisson. Special teams made their impact on the punt, with Tristan Burrus coming up with a 50 yard return that ended at the three yard line, setting up an easy touchdown for Felder. Another extra point gave the team the 14-7 lead.

Aided by yet more penalties, including particularly questionable roughing the passer and pass interference calls, the Knights were able to score their second touchdown of the day, capped by a short running play.

Collins led a quick response for the Thunder, connecting on a deep pass to Daishean Jamison to give the team a first down from the 12 yard line. A shorter pass to Tim Kasper capped the drive with a touchdown and gave the team the 21-14 lead. Neither team scored through the rest of the half and that score held into the intermission.
On the team's second drive of the third quarter, Alexander helped extend the lead. This time he connected with Burrus for a 26 yard touchdown with just over five minutes remaining. Another successful kick by Colton Wampler made the score 28-14.

The feisty Knights responded again, connecting on a pair of long passes to reach the redzone. Another penalty against the Trine secondary gave them a first and goal at the two, which they quickly converted into a touchdown cutting the lead to seven again.

The lone mark on Felder's day came during the next drive for the Thunder offense. A fumble in the redzone squandered a scoring chance and gave the Knights a chance to tie the game at the start of the fourth quarter. The defense stood tall in response, stopping Calvin on a pair of short running plays to force the punt.
Calvin did eventually find success on their next offensive drive. They went most of the length of the field until a shared sack by Cam McCarver and Blake Lincoln forced them settle for a field goal making the score 28-24.

Things took an even grimmer turn when the Thunder offense failed to convert on a fourth down play around midfield and gave the Knights a chance to take the lead with just over six minutes remaining in the contest. This time Tanner Goff came up with the sack to force a long fourth down play for Calvin, with Emil Drake coming up with an interception to end the threat.

Trine's offense wasted three minutes from the clock before punting the ball away on their next possession, this time pinning Calvin on their own 11. A sack by Trestan Kern made it that much more difficult of a drive and Budwah came up with another break up to force the turnover on downs a few plays later.

Set up on the five yard line, the Thunder offense eventually gave Felder the ball for another touchdown, building their lead to 35-24 with just 1:26 remaining on the clock.
Calvin wasn't willing to go quietly into the night, connecting on a few long passes, and drawing another pass interference call to score another touchdown. A failed two-point conversion made the score 35-30 with 41 seconds remaining. Trine recovered the onside kick to seal the victory.

A major story of the day was the penalties. The Thunder ended the contest with 13 for 117 yards while Calvin finished with nine for 75 yards. Overall, Trine won the offensive battle by just ten yards, finishing with 327 total in the game.

Collins led the way through the air with 125 yards on nine completions with one touchdown. Alexander finished with 109 yards on five completions with a pair of touchdowns. Felder led the ground attack with 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Defensively, Conrad led the team with eight tackles along with one of the forced fumbles and sacks in the contest. Trey Richards was second with seven. The stable of Thunder to record at least half a sack included Conrad, Goff, Branch, Lincoln, Sisson, McCarver, Troy Miller, Elijah Bouyer, Wesyn Ludwig, and Kanaan Jewett. Budwah was a force in the secondary all day finishing with five pass breakups, which ties the program record.

The Thunder improve to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in MIAA play following the victory. They will travel to face Alma College in their next contest on Saturday, November 2. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m.