HOLLAND – The hype of the first Hope-Calvin football match was huge.
But with Calvin being a first-year program facing the league champions, it wasn’t expected to be a close game. But it was an important, historical moment in The Rivalry.
Part two, the first game hosted by Hope, was different.
The Flying Dutchmen are again ranked, but this time, Calvin entered much improved at 6-2.
That just motivated the Flying Dutchmen even more.
The defense dominated and the offense couldn’t be stopped as Hope defeated Calvin 52-0 on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025 – the first edition of The Rivalry at Hope’s Ray & Sue Smith Stadium, in front of a crowd of 5,651.
“The atmosphere felt different from the start. It is a huge statement for the defense. Back-to-back shutouts just shows how bought in the guys are,” Hope’s Liam Danitz said. “It is an unbelievable achievement. Offenses can’t move the ball on us. We are an iron wall up front and our defensive backs are intercepting everything.”
The No. 16 Flying Dutchmen improved to 8-1 and 5-1 in the MIAA. They close the regular season next week against Olivet. Calvin drops to 6-3 (3-3 MIAA).
“The atmosphere was awesome. Our guys wanted to play a night game, and the fireworks were great. Our athletic department put in the work to put on a great show. The defense has gone 10 quarters without being scored upon, which is incredible. They had a great energy and … (Calvin) didn’t even threaten,” Hope coach Peter Stuursma said. “To put a goose egg up back-to-back in college football is truly remarkable.”
Caleb Paarlberg and Danitz had back-to-back sacks to start the second half. It forced a punt and Hope took the ensuing possession down and scored on a Motter run to make it 35-0.
Danitz has 12 sacks, second in Division III.
Hope also had three interceptions.
Hope held Calvin to just 152 yards of total offense, while amassing 557.
“Up front we couldn’t get anything going. We couldn’t run the football or protect the quarterback,” Calvin coach Trent Figg said.
It was the second consecutive shutout for Hope and the Dutchmen have outscored opponents 119-0 in the past 10 quarters.
Dux grads come up big in big moments
Calvin tried to get some momentum going late in the half, but Hope’s Keaton Hendricks intercepted a pass with 1:29 to go as the Knights were driving.
The Zeeland West graduate is no stranger to big games. He scored an MHSAA-record five touchdowns in a state championship game last year, leading the Dux to their fifth state title.
He is wasting no time in making an impact at Hope as a freshman, making a huge play in the biggest game of the year.
Meanwhile, on the ensuing possession, Zeeland West graduate Skye VanderKuyl caught a touchdown pass from Alex Thole with 14 seconds go to, putting Hope up 28-0 at halftime.
VanderKuyl has been a key tight end for the Dutchmen for years and usually is in a blocking roll, but showed his versatility with a nice grab on the out route.
“This was awesome. What a great feeling,” VanderKuyl said. “We drove it down and it feels great to score. That is what you work for all summer and all winter.”
Third down prowess
Hope was big on third downs, thwarting all of the stops Calvin made on first and second downs.
The Knights had four sacks and disrupted some things, but third downs kept possessions going for the Flying Dutchmen.
Hope was 7-for-11 on third downs and made its only fourth-down conversion.
Meanwhile, Calvin was just 3-of-13 on third down.
“The big thing was defensively, I thought we did some decent things, but it was all third downs,” Figg said. “But offensively, we never got going. Hope is a really good football team. We have won six games and I am really proud of our guys in just our second year.”
Calvin’s Thomas Vaccaro was 10-for-17 passing for 44 yards. He had 61 yards rushing.
Running game working early
The Hope run game has been a huge strength the past few years.
The Flying Dutchmen are strong on the line, but their biggest advantage is the long list of running backs that they can bring in and get the job done with.
That was on full display from the beginning of Saturday’s game as the first three possessions produced long Hope drives that resulted in touchdown runs from three different players – Kal Motter, Trey Goike and AJ Martel.
“When you can play a lot of guys, that’s huge. We played five running backs and that is so huge, especially this time of year,” Stuursma said. “It is fun to watch.”
Motter had 14 carries for 94 yards. Goike had four carries for 51 yards and Martel had five rushes for 33 yards. Hope rushed for 260 yards.
Quarterback Alex Thole was 21-for-31 for 244 yards. He was sacked four times and chased around a lot, but managed to keep his head and make good decisions.
“That is Alex making plays. He is an incredible competitor but is so even,” Stuursma said. “He just doesn’t get rattled.”
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 defense dominates with shutout of rival Calvin, its second clean slate in a row
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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