HOLLAND – As the Bryce Debri dove on the fumble, the Hope football team raced on to the field in a thrilling overtime victory.
But the referees were still discussing the play and eventually overturned the fumble ruling on the field and called the hook-and-ladder screen pass as incomplete.
It gave Alma another chance, and they took advantage with an overtime touchdown to beat Hope 29-26 on Saturday, Sept. 27, at Ray & Sue Smith Stadium in the MIAA opener.
“I have been coaching football for a long time and I have never seen anything like it. I thought we stopped them and won the game. But that was not the case,” Hope coach Peter Stuursma said. “I don’t know how you can reverse that. But I am proud of our dudes. They showed a lot of heart. I think we have a really good football team. I don’t think we lost the game, we just didn’t do enough to win in overtime.
“This is not going to define us. This team is built to respond.
No. 15 Hope (3-1) led 26-23 after a 37-yard field goal from Caden Balkon in overtime.
After the overturned call, Jake Punches had a big tackle for a loss that forced a fourth-and-goal.
Alma (2-2) quarterback Carter St. John faked a run up the middle then threw a jump pass to Miles Haggart for the winning score.
“It is so hard to have to look the guys in the eye and tell them we didn’t do enough to win. But I am also really dang proud of them,” Stuursma said.
It was obviously tough to take for the players.
“It definitely stings,” Hope quarterback Alex Thole said. “It is going to sting really bad. It didn’t go our way but we can’t control that and have to keep moving forward.”
Hope rallies to tie the game
The game-tying sequence in the fourth quarter started with an interception by Hope’s Austin Harvey.
Hope, which had a lot of success with short crossing passes, stunned Alma by going to the run with Trey Goike, who had two big runs, then a third on third-and-6 to give Hope a first down in the red zone.
But it wasn’t easy. Hope faced fourth-and-7 on the 11-yard line with 1:15 to go and the ball bounced off Jonny Rohen-Blanton’s arms then hit Alma’s defender’s helmet then bounced back off of Rohen-Blanton like a pinball before hitting the turf.
It could have ended the game, but a defensive holding penalty on Alma gave hope new life.
On third-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Thole dropped back to pass, pump-faked, which sent the Alma defensive end in a leap. Thole then ran left around the defensive end and raced to the corner of the end zone where he hurdled a Scot at the goal line to score.
“We were trying to throw it and I was just trying to make something happen,” Thole said.
The extra point by Balkon tied it 23-23 and sent the game to overtime.
An earlier extra-point block by Alma kept it from being a kick for the win.
“I thought about going for the two-point play and the win there, but I felt like it was too early in the season to put it all on one play for our guys,” Stuursma said. “Caden was huge. We have great confidence in him.”
What’s at stake
The controversial finish to the game could have a huge impact in the race for the MIAA title.
Alma and Hope were the two favorites in the league and if both teams win out, the Scots would claim the outright title, and depending on regional rankings, could get the only spot in the NCAA Division III tournament from the MIAA.
But there are six more games to go.
By the numbers
Thole was 33-for-44 passing for 267 yards and two touchdowns (one to Trevor Griffiths and one to Billy Sterenberg). He was able to scramble for yards and second-chance passes most of the game but was sacked three times. He ended up running 17 times for 58 yards.
“We have one of the best quarterbacks in the Midwest, maybe the best at our level,” Stuursma said. “That showed today. He is special and our team responds to him. He is really calm and has trust in our guys and they have trust in him.”
Punches and Caleb Paarlberg each had seven tackles. Owen Graham had two interceptions and Harvey had one.
Eddie Williams had 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown for Alma.
St. John was 17-for-24 passing with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Alma gets opening punch
Stuursma often talks about the importance of the first “punch in the mouth” comparing a football game to a heavyweight boxing match.
But more important is what teams do after taking that initial punch.
Before all of the fans had taken their seats, the Scots were up 14-0.
Alma put together a quick scoring drive after a couple of passes from Carter St. John and ended in a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Scots pounced on a fumble and then score on a 70-yard strike from St. John to Zach Poff.
It was exactly the start the Scots needed on the road and exactly what Hope did not want to see.
But Hope rallied to take a 16-14 lead and rallied again to force overtime.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College football sees win reversed by controversial call in overtime vs Alma
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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