The Hope College football team enter today's game at the Trine Thunder 2-6 on the season and 0-4 in MIAA play. The Flying Dutchmen are coming off a 14-3 loss to Alma last week that dropped them into a last-place tie in the league standings with Kalamazoo. Trine is 5-3 overall and 3-1 in MIAA games after a 27-25 win over Kalamazoo and kept the Thunder in contention for the league championship with two weeks remaining.
Hope is looking to end a three-game losing streak. The Flying Dutchmen's last win came on October 10 with a 34-0 win at Rockford, Illinois. Hope has lost to Olivet 31-27, Alma 35-24 and Adrian in succession.
This is the 13th all-time meeting between Hope and Trine. The Flying Dutchmen lead the
all-time series by a 8-4 margin, including wins in the past two seasons: 31-24 in 2014 and 35-7 in 2013.
In 2014, Hope beat Trine behind 97 yards receiving and two touchdowns from Matt Kroll and 292 yards passing from quarterback Rob Kish. Kroll had scoring catches of 12 and 34 yards, the latter of which broke a 24-24 tie with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Safety Colin Kelly shared the team lead with 12 tackles.
Matt Kroll tops the MIAA with 98.4 yards receiving per game. He is second in the league with 54 receptions for 787 yards. He has surpassed 100 yards in receiving in four games this season.
Matt Kroll's 129 receptions are fourth-most at Hope. Joe VerSchueren (2002-04) is third with 158. Brian Adloff (1997-2001) has the school record with 211.
Matt Kroll's 1,801 career receiving yards are the seventh most in Hope history. He needs 106 yards to pass Doug VanEerden (2004-07) for sixth place. Kyle Dietrich (2007-10) has the school record of 2,685. Kroll has six career 100-yard receiving games, including four this season: 145 against Elmhurst, Illinois, 138 against Concordia, 126 against Albion and 100 against Olivet.
Rob Kish ranks fourth in the MIAA in passing yards at 195.5 per game. He has completed 116-of-259 attempts for 1,564 yards and six touchdowns for the Flying Dutchmen. He has five interceptions.
The Flying Dutchmen have produced a 100-yard rusher in four games this season. Three different players have accomplished the feat: Chris Leigh (173 at home against Albion on October 3, Mike Miklusicak (128 at Rockford on October 10 and Zac Boersema (128 at Olivet on October 17 and 115 against Alma on October 24).
Colin Kelly is tied for sixth in the MIAA with a Flying Dutchmen-high 8.6 tackles per game. DB Andy Lucas is tied for 17th with a 7.1 average.
Punter Dean DeVries and receiver Matt Kroll have claimed spots on the 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District™ Football Teams. Both seniors are eligible for Academic All-American voting. DeVries is majoring in health education, while Kroll has a double major in public accounting and management.
The Flying Dutchmen conclude the 2015 season next Saturday at Kalamazoo. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Hope will try to reclaim the Wooden Shoes trophy swiped last season for the first time in two decades.
