Football loses home-opener against Elmhurst, 31-14

The Olivet College football team fell to Elmhurst (Ill.) College, 31-14, this afternoon in its home-opener at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

There was no scoring in the opening 15 minutes of the game. The Bluejays got on the scoreboard first when quarterback Chris Kudyba ran the ball three yards into the end zone. The PAT kick was good to make the score 7-0.

Olivet tied the game at 7-7 when freshman running back Mike Martin (Caledoia/Wayland) caught a screen pass from junior quarterback Lukas Linn (Harbor Beach) and went 41 yards down the left sideline for the score. Senior Kyle Zabel's (Sturgis) PAT kick split the uprights.

Elmhurst took advantage of a Comet fumble in the final minute of the first half. Tyler Lomnicki booted a 41-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.

The Bluejays scored on their first series of the second half when Mitch Holmer caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Kudyba. Olivet trimmed its deficit down to three points when junior running back Pat Clasgens (Livonia/Stevenson) ran 52 yards for a touchdown with 8:57 left in the third quarter.

Elmhurst pushed its lead back to 10 points late in the third stanza and then closed the scoring midway through the final quarter of play.

The Comets finished the game with 182 total yards of offense – 79 on the ground and 103 through the air. Clasgens led the ground game with eight carries for 55 yards. Linn threw for 54 yards on 5-of-12 passing. Junior Dustin Kapral (Lapeer/East) completed three passes for 49 yards. The leading receiver was Martin with two catches for 66 yards.

Defensively, senior linebacker Justin Hughes (Mashall) had a team-high 13 tackles. Senior defensive back Michael Terranova (Lansing/Lansing Catholic Central) was second with 12 tackles, including five solo stop and three tackles for loss.

Elmhurst had 77 rushing and 168 passing yards for 245 yards of total offense. Griffin Gibson led all ball carriers with 20 rushes for 64 yards. Kudyba completed 12-of23 passes for 159 yards. Matt D'Angelo topped the team with four catches for 79 yards. Randy Wright was the leader with 10 tackles, including four sacks.

Olivet looks to bounce back from the loss when it travels to play Concordia University Chicago next Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.