After a historic finish to its last season, the Hope College football team kept the momentum going into a new season.
The Flying Dutchmen put up 20 points in the first quarter, 41 in the first half and rolled to a stunning 62-0 win over Loras College on Saturday, Sept. 6, in Dubuque, Iowa.
In the first quarter, Billy Sternberg scored on a 1-yared run, AJ Martel scored on a 15-yard run and Jonathan Pittman scored on a 4-yard run.
In the second quarter, Martel reached the end zone again on a 17-yard scamper, while Kal Motter scored on a 1-yard run and Alex Thole threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Travis Myers.
The second half saw Trey Goike score on a 55-yard run and Mike Murphy score on runs of 27 and 24 yards.
Caden Balkon went 8-for-9 on extra-point attempts.
Hope had 658 total yards and 270 rushing yards. Goike had five rushes for 94 yards. Martel had 14 carries for 88 yards.
Myers had four catches for 121 yards. Jonny Rohen-Blanton had four catches for 79 yards and Motter had two catches for 50 yards.
Hope continues on the road next week, playing at Franklin (Ind.) College.
Transfer gets the start, and shines
Alex Thole, who started his college career at Grand Valley State, the moved to Tarleton State in Texas, transferred to Hope this year.
The Schoolcraft native won the starting job and was dominant in the first game as a member of the Flying Dutchmen.
Thole was 15-for-27 passing for 305 yards and a touchdown. He threw no interceptions and was sacked three times.
Dominant defense gets shutout
So many points were scored it is easy to forget how dominant the Hope defense was.
The Flying Dutchmen allowed just 163 yards of total offense, including just 37 rushing yards.
Nolan Vis had five tackles to lead Hope. Easton Phipps, Caleb Clinger and Tyler Radley each had four with two of Radley’s coming for losses.
Hope totaled eight tackles for losses in the game. Phipps and Bryce Debri each snagged an interception and Micah Bush recovered a fumble.
It is the second consecutive season Hope has started with a shutout – both against Loras.
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: Transfer quarterback leads Hope College football to huge season-opening win over Loras
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
