Nov. 8, 2008

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ADRIAN, Mich. - The MIAA title fight went down to the wire on Saturday afternoon and visiting Trine had one too many punches for Adrian in a 9-0 win for the Thunder. The defense for both teams came to play at Performance Stadium in a driving wind which gusted to over 25 miles an hour and proved to be a factor in the kicking game and for both offenses vertical passing game.

The Bulldogs never got into a rhythm on offense as Trine gave Adrian fits all afternoon in the running game. Adrian entered the game ranked 12th in Division III in rushing yards per game and were held to 35 yards on 35 carries. The Bulldog defense did a manageable job against Trine on the ground with 171 yards on 46 carries. Eric Watt rushed for 107 yards on 16 carries which was a season-high for the sophomore quarterback.

The first quarter saw both teams feel each other out and play it close to the vest. Trine had 65 yards on the ground while Adrian had 34 rushing yards and 21 passing yards. The Thunder broke into the scoring column at the 6:50 mark of the second quarter as Tab McNally dropped Troy Niblock in the end zone for a safety. The previous drive was a huge moment for Adrian as they stopped Trine four times from the one-yard line to turn the ball over to the offense.

Trine started inching closer to the end zone going into the fourth quarter. On their second drive of the final stanza, the Thunder marched 39 yards in six plays and Paul Curtis caught a 25-yard TD pass from Watt, who scrambled to his right and found Curtis running to the back pylon. Trine's 9-0 lead was threatened late in the game as Adrian had their best scoring threat of the afternoon. Adrian began the drive on their own 20 and with the ball at the Trine 48, Niblock threw a 41-yard pass to Patrick Reagan to the Trine 7. Myke Johnson carried to the three on first down but a three-yard loss on second down and a 18-yard sack on third down put AC at the Trine 24. Justin Warner's field goal went wide left into the wind and Adrian gave the ball over with 2:36 remaining.

Adrian finished the game with 122 yards of offense while Trine had 228 yards. AC was 2-of-11 on third down and were 0-of-2 in the red zone. The Trine defense had six sacks of Adrian quarterbacks while AC dropped Watt just once behind the line. Chris McGuire had a career-high 13 tackles, one forced fumble and one tackle for loss. Senior Bobby Watson had nine tackles in his final home game also with a forced fumble. Adrian (7-2, 4-1) wraps up the regular season next week with a 6:00 pm kick at Olivet.