by Greg Chandler
After giving up more than 200 rushing yards to Olivet College in the first half of Saturday's game, the Hope College football team shut down the Comets in the second half.
The Flying Dutchmen held their foe to 51 rushing yards over the final 30 minutes, picking off a key interception and kept Olivet out of the end zone.
Meanwhile, junior quarterback Chase Brown of Comstock Park, Michigan (Comstock Park HS) threw three touchdown passes, and the Flying Dutchmen went on to defeat the Comets, 31-16, at the Cutler Athletic Complex.
Hope is now tied for first place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association with Trine University at 2-0 in conference play. The Flying Dutchmen are 5-1 overall and have won their last three games.
"I'm real proud of our guys. That was a physical game," head coach Peter Stuursma said after the game. "[Olivet] had a big loss last week [to Trine], so they were playing for their lives. For our guys to come down here to this environment and beat them, it's a huge, huge shot in the arm for our guys."
Defensively, junior safety Brady Howe of Holland, Michigan (Holland Christian) led the Dutchmen with 11 tackles, and junior linebacker Toby Hulst of Caledonia, Michigan (Grand Rapids South Christian HS) made 10 stops.
Senior cornerback Trevor Sutton of Bay City, Michigan (All Saints) recovered a fumble.
Hope capitalized on an Olivet fumble on the opening drive of the game to score the game's first points. The Flying Dutchmen drove 70 yards in seven plays, with junior running back Kenyea Houston of Chicago, Illinois (Westinghouse Prep) going the final yard for the touchdown. Junior placekicker Dylan Hillger of Holly, Michigan (Lake Fenton) added the extra point for a 7-0 Hope lead.
After Olivet responded with a 75-yard drive to tie the game, Hope regained the lead early in the second quarter when Brown found sophomore wide receiver Terrell Harris of Whitehall, Michigan (Whitehall HS) in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
After a Comet field goal, the Flying Dutch Dutchmen drove back into Olivet territory again late in the first half, but the drive appeared to stall. However, on fourth-and-14, Brown connected with junior wide receiver TJ McKenzie Jr. of Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon), pictured left, on a 33-yard touchdown pass, extending the Hope lead to 21-10.
Olivet drove inside the Hope 10 in the final minute of the first half, but the defense stiffened, forcing the Comets to settle for a 26-yard field goal, cutting the lead at the half to 21-13.
In the third quarter, Hope went deep to strike paydirt. Brown found McKenzie behind the Olivet secondary on a post pattern, and McKenzie outran everyone the last 40 yards to complete a 79-yard touchdown strike, Hope's longest pass play of the season. Hillger's conversion boosted the Hope lead to 28-13.
"That was a backbreaker," Stuursma said.
The Comets were driving in the fourth quarter to try to cut the lead to one score when Hope came up with a big stop. Junior safety Adam Vander Kooy of Indianapolis, Indiana (Brebeuf Jesuit HS), pictured right, tipped a pass that was intended for Olivet tight end Seth Young up in the air, then caught the tip and returned the interception 39 yards to near midfield.
That would set up a methodical drive that consumed 4-1/2 minutes of the clock and ended with Hillger splitting the uprights on a 29-yard field goal with 6:11 remaining. Hope led 31-13, and only allowed a field goal the rest of the way to secure the win.
"We started making some tackles. We were missing tackles in the first half," Stuursma said. "We started rotating more guys into the defensive line, and they were fitting into our gaps better."
Hope finished with 409 yards total offense in the game, 234 through the air, and 175 on the ground.
Brown completed 20 of 28 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He was not sacked in the contest. Olivet had come into the game with 18 sacks in its first five games.
McKenzie had a career-best 136 receiving yards on five catches, while junior wide receiver Ian Rampersad of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Forest Hills Northern) had four receptions for 62 yards.
Houston led the ground attack with 54 yards on 10 carries, while Harris added 48 yards on four carries and senior running back Brandon Anderson of Cassopolis, Michigan (Ross Beatty) contributed 46 yards on 12 carries.
The Flying Dutchmen return to Ray and Sue Smith Stadium next Saturday to face MIAA rival Adrian College as part of Hope's One Big Weekend celebration. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.