HOLLAND, Michigan — The Hope College football team dropped its opening game in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play Saturday afternoon to Adrian College, 22-10, at Ray and Sue Smith Stadium.
Hope fell to 3-2 overall with the loss. It was the first time the Flying Dutchmen had lost an MIAA opener since 2016, head coach Peter Stuursma's first season, when Hope was defeated by Olivet College, 15-13.
"We did not have a flow to the game where we felt like we were one step ahead, where we were over the ball consistently," Stuursma said after the game. "We had penalties, we had dropped balls, we had dropped snaps. Again, the things that killed us in Week 3 (a loss at Mount St. Joseph), killed us today. We got exposed. We didn't have stops where we needed to make stops. We've got to fix it."
Once again, Hope had to battle from behind early in the game. A 91-yard scoring drive, capped off by an Aaron Jenkins 2-yard touchdown run, gave the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead. A 21-yard field goal on Adrian's next possession put Hope in a double-digit deficit for the fourth time in five games.
Hope got on the board in the second quarter with a 97-yard, 16-play drive. Senior quarterback Chase Brown of Comstock Park, Michigan (Comstock Park) completed 7 of 8 passes on the drive, including a 22-yard completion to senior wide receiver Ian Rampersad of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Forest Hills Northern) and a 21-yard connection to junior wideout Terrell Harris of Whitehall, Michigan (Whitehall), to put the ball in the red zone.
Senior running back Daniel Romano of Royal Oak, Michigan (Royal Oak Shrine), finished off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Hope cut the Adrian lead to 10-7 with 5:51 left in the first half.
Adrian came back with a 31-yard touchdown pass with 1:23 left in the half to boost its lead to 16-7.
The Flying Dutch Dutchmen went with a no-huddle offense for their final drive of the half. A 25-yard pass from Brown to senior wide receiver TJ McKenzie of Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon) moved Hope into Adrian territory. Hope got as far as the Adrian 24, but back-to-back sacks pushed the ball back to the 33-yard-line.
But on the final play of the half, senior placekicker Dylan Hillger of Holly, Michigan (Lake Fenton HS), booted a school record 50-yard field goal to pull Hope within six at 16-10.
Hillger's field goal broke the previous school record of 46 yards first set by Darren Ford in 2016, and later equaled by Sam Albritten in 2019 and Hillger last year against Albion College.
In the second half, Hope struggled to move the ball, and the Flying Dutchmen had trouble stopping the Adrian offense.
A 38-yard touchdown run by Jenkins in the third quarter gave the Bulldogs breathing room. Two fourth-quarter interceptions, including one in the end zone, sealed the win for Adrian, snapping a five-game losing streak to Hope.
Hope was limited to 284 yards total offense – 209 through the air and 75 on the ground. Brown completed 20 of 36 passes for 209 yards, but was sacked four times and picked off twice.
McKenzie caught nine passes for 93 yards, while Rampersad had five receptions for 63 yards. Junior running back Elijah Smith of Hastings, Michigan (Hastings) led the ground game with 46 yards on 10 carries.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Andrew Debri of DeWitt, Michigan (DeWItt) led the Dutchmen with 12 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
Sophomore linebacker Cole Luhmann of Rochester, Michigan (Stoney Creek) recorded 11 stops. Sophomore free safety Sam Cochran of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East) intercepted his third pass of the season.
Hope travels to Albion next Saturday for a showdown with the unbeaten and nationally-ranked Britons. Kickoff at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium is at noon.
