Football team whips Defiance (Ohio), 44-12

The Olivet College football team used its Wing-T offense to perfection today and defeated Defiance (Ohio) College, 44-12, in its home opener at Griswold Field. In the game, Olivet had a single-game school record 89 rushing attempts for 562 yards, and outgained the Yellow Jackets, 588-252 in total offense.

The Comets also broke the single-game school record with 32 first downs and 94 offensive plays. Sophomore Justin Hunwick (Sterling Heights/ Stevenson High School) set the single-game school record with three field goals.

Olivet scored the first points of the game at the 2:20 mark of the first quarter when Hunwick made a 34-yard field goal. Hunwick then made the score 6-0 with a 28-yard field goal with 14:10 left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets then scored a touchdown with a pass over the middle, but they missed the extra point and the game was tied at 6-6. Sophomore running back Mick Faasen (Belding High School) scored the Comets' first touchdown at 9:49 mark, and Hunwick added the extra point kick for a 13-6 lead. Olivet ended the first half with a 27-yard field goal by Hunwick.

The Comets opened the second half with a 13-play, 78-yard scoring drive capped off with a 15-yard run by sophomore Dwight Houston (Detroit Denby High School). In the fourth quarter, Olivet scored on its first three series with a seven-yard run by freshman Corey Davis (Farmington Hills/Harrison High School), seven-yard run by sophomore quarterback Chris Quackenbush (Waterford/Mott High School) and 30-yard run by freshman Steve Van Nortwick (Novi/Walled Lake Western High School). Hunwick connected on all three point-after-touchdown kicks.

Olivet had six running backs rush for at least 50 yards a piece, and Faasen led the way with 28 carries for 140 yards. Houston had 80 yards, freshman Kemp Luchie (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Northern High School) had 77, Davis had 72, sophomore Travis Sleight (Battle Creek Lakeview High School) had 64 and Van Nortwick had 57. Junior quarterback Rick Mason (Belding High School) and Quackenbush each completed a pass to sophomore Josh Ewing (Hopkins High School) for 13 yards. Defensively, sophomore Larry Graham (Saginaw High School) led the Comets with eight tackles, including five solo stops. Defiance scored its final touchdown with 19 seconds left in the game.

Jason Gendron led the Yellow Jacket ground attack with 90 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Corey Minnfield completed 10-of-18 passes for 120 yards. Aaron Schmidt caught four passes for 43 yards. Ryan Ditty had a game-high 18 tackles.

The Comets will next be in action on Saturday, Sept. 13 when they travel to central Ohio to play Ohio Wesleyan University at 1 p.m.