On a day where Hope College's offense struggled to move the football, the defense of the Flying Dutchmen came to the rescue.
Hope forced seven turnovers, including six interceptions, and returned two of the miscues for touchdowns in the second half as the Flying Dutchmen defeated Coe (Iowa) College 33-24 Saturday afternoon at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium to improve to 2-0 on the young season.
Head coach Peter Stuursma said afterwards that he thought the defense would play much better this week after giving up 34 points in the season opener against Aurora (Illinois) University.
"On Tuesday, we noticed our defense in practice – they were focused, they were lasered in. They had a great week of practice, I think partly because they didn't want to give up 34 points. That left a bad taste in their mouth. A credit to our guys for stepping up," Stuursma said.
For the second week in a row, the Dutchmen had to battle back from a double-digit deficit. After senior kicker Dylan Hillger of Holly, Michigan (Lake Fenton HS) kicked a 32-yard field goal to open the scoring for Hope, the visiting Kohawks got a pair of short rushing touchdowns to take a 14-3 early in the second quarter.
A 63-yard interception return to the Hope 12-yard-line by Coe's Chase Kruse gave the Kohawks a chance to make it a three-score lead later just before halftime.
But for the second week in a row, Hope senior free safety Adam Vander Kooy of Indianapolis, Indiana (Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) came up with a game-changing interception, picking off an underthrown pass in the end zone.
Eighteen seconds later, senior wide receiver TJ McKenzie Jr. of Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon) took a short pass from senior quarterback Chase Brown of Comstock Park, Michigan (Comstock Park), eluded a couple of tacklers along the far sideline, then broke free for a 74-yard touchdown play. Hillger's extra point cut the Coe lead to 14-10, and that's how the first half ended.
"It was a huge turnaround," Stuursma said. "But that's the game of football, right?"
After a Coe field goal midway through the third quarter, Hope's defense once again came up big to take command of the game. Sophomore safety Sam Cochran of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East HS) intercepted a Nick Casey pass and returned it 27 yards to the Coe 15.
Four plays later, senior running back Daniel Romano of Royal Oak, Michigan (Shrine Catholic HS) picked up a fumble in the backfield and plunged into the end zone from a yard out to tie the game at 17-17.
Less than two minutes later, the Dutchmen took the lead for good, as freshman cornerback Darion Nundley of Newport, Michigan (Woodhaven) perfectly timed a pass in the flat, picking it off and taking it 37 yards for a touchdown. Hope led 24-17 going into the fourth quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Hope defense got the ball in Coe territory on downs. The Dutchmen drove inside the Kohawk 5, then settled for a 20-yard Hillger field goal with 2:13 remaining to make it 27-17.
Coe pulled to within three points with five seconds remaining on a 34-yard touchdown strike from Casey to Zamari Bruce. Then the Kohawks recovered the ensuing onside kick, giving Coe one final shot at a miracle finish.
But Hope's defense stood tall again. Senior defensive end Connor Naklizki of Byron Center, Michigan (Byron Center) sacked Casey, causing a fumble that was scooped up by senior linebacker Adam Gill of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Forest Hills Northern HS) and returned 41 yards for a touchdown as time ran out.
Cochran had two interceptions to lead the Hope defense, while Vander Kooy, Nundley, Gill and junior linebacker Mohamed Kamara of Kalamazoo, Michigan (Kalamazoo Central) each had one.
The seven turnovers offset an 11-minute time of possession advance for Coe in the contest. Coe also ran 27 more plays than did Hope.
The Flying Dutchmen managed 245 yards of total offense – 66 on the ground and 179 through the air.
"We'll get it right. We'll make it right," Stuursma said. "We looked out of sync. We looked out of timing. We made mistakes that we didn't make in Game One. It felt like a Game One. We made those silly mistakes that you make in Game One, and we didn't do it last week."
Brown completed 15 of 31 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown, and was intercepted once. McKenzie caught five passes for 129 yards to lead the receiving corps.
Sophomore linebacker Andrew Debri of DeWitt, Michigan (DeWitt HS) led Hope in tackles with 12, including five solo stops. Gill added eight tackles to go along with his interception and fumble return for a score.
Hope travels to Cincinnati, Ohio next Saturday to face Mount St. Joseph College in the annual crossover battle between the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m.