ALBION, Mich.--Joey Koscielski caught two touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 96 seconds remaining, to help the Adrian College football team defeat host Albion College, 28-21, in Saturday's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener.
= Final Score: Adrian College 28, Albion College 21 Boxscore
= Location: Schmidt-Fraser Field at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium, Albion, Mich.; Weather: Mostly cloudy, 65 degrees, Wind W 6 mph
= Records: Adrian Bulldogs 2-2 overall (1-0 MIAA), Albion Britons 0-4 (0-1 MIAA)
FOR ADRIAN
= Sophomore quarterback Gage Smith made his first start of the season, completing 13 of 24 passes for 158 yards and a pair of TDs. He also was intercepted twice.
= Junior running back David Nutter ran for a team season-high 135 yards on 28 carries and an 18-yard TD run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead at the 9:22 mark of the first quarter.
= Sophomore linebacker Angus Arthur led the AC defense with a career-best 12 total tackles, including six solo, a sack and an important interception. Junior linebacker Jacob Davis, a converted running back, added 11 (5 solo) including a sack.
= Sophomore wide receiver Darius Philon had his second-straight 100-yard receiving day with 113 on six receptions with a TD.
THE OPPOSITION
= Signal-caller Chad Hamilton passed for 242 yards on 20-for-29 attempts and three TDs.
= Zach Serzo rushed for 87 yards on 12 carries.
= Sean Koski had game highs of seven catches and 117 yards as well as a TD. Brian Blanzy caught two TD passes among six receptions for 70 yards.
= Anthony Waite and Geordon Carter had 15 (8 solo) and 11 (4 solo) total tackles, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
= Adrian freshman quarterback Hunter Hamm engineered the game-winning scoring drive that took 11 plays and 63 yards in 3 minutes and 55 seconds off the clock. Hamm's only action of the afternoon saw him complete 4 of 5 passes for 44 yards, culminating with a 5-yard TD throw to Koscielski in the back left corner of the end zone.
= On that final scoring drive, Philon had given the Bulldogs good starting field position at their own 37 with a 33-yard kick return.
= Arthur got his first career interception at the Albion 47 to seal the win for the Bulldogs. Adrian ran out the final 1:15 to end the game.
= Hamilton and Blanzy connected on a 2-yard TD pass to knot the score at 21-all with 5:40 to go in the fourth, as Albion erased a 21-7 deficit. This tying score was set up by a Josh Padelt 43-yard interception return to the Adrian 5.
= After a Hamilton to Koski 6-yard TD pass play to tie the score 7-7 in the first quarter (6:06), Adrian scored 14 unanswered points. Koscielski had a 6-yard TD reception from Smith at 6:11 of the second quarter and Philon had a 63-yard catch-and-run from Smith with just 43 seconds left in the first half.
= Albion pulled within 21-14 on a TD throw from Hamilton to Blanzy for 14 yards at 13:21 of the third stanza. It was a six-play, 75-yard drive in just 1:39.
= Adrian also won in first downs (24-23), total yards (424-392), time of possession (2:1 ratio), rushing yards (222-150) and third-down efficiency (11-for-20--1-for-8).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
= Albion College is the defending conference co-champion and it represented the MIAA in the 2015 NCAA Division III Championship.
= Adrian defeated the Britons in Albion for the first time since Nov. 3, 2012, 20-19 in overtime.
= At 86 games, the Adrian-Albion rivalry is the Bulldogs' most-played with any opponent.
= Coach Jim Deere is now 27-10 in MIAA games, and Adrian is 4-3 in conference openers under the 1989 graduate.
= With 195 punting yards today, junior Connor Storms now has 4,528 for his career to cement his No. 6 place on the school's all-time chart.
= Junior lineman Damon Fuller had 1-1/2 sacks for nine yards today among three tackles and four total. He now has 26 sacks in his career--which is second on the Bulldogs' all-time list. He is second in the MIAA with 5-1/2 this season.
= Davis ranks 11th on the Adrian career chart with 174 punt return yards.
= Nutter has six TDs scored on the season to rank second in the MIAA.
= The Britons have lost four games to start a season for the first time since 2007.
= Ranked sixth nationally in time of possession, Adrian did little to hurt in that category today. The Bulldogs had a season-high 40:27 and limited Albion to just 19:33.
= The Bulldogs put long scoring drives of 10-plus plays and at least 60 yards on three occasions. They had a first quarter TD on their first possession of 13 plays for 86 yards in 5:38. In the second, they marched 95 yards in 20 plays for a whopping 10:32 TOP for another TD. Koscielski's first TD--a 6-yard grab in the end zone--was set up by a deflected pass that Philon caught for 21 yards to the Albion 39. Then Adrian had the game-winning drive late in the fourth.
= The Adrian defense had a terrific day with a season's best four sacks (24 yards), three pass break-ups by sophomore linebacker Chris Adams (2 tackles), a blocked field goal by junior defensive back Eli Villalobos (5 tackles, 6 total) and quarterback hurry from Fuller. Besides Arthur, senior DB Archie Nolan (3 tackles, 7 total) also had an interception.
UP NEXT
= Adrian returns home next Saturday (1 p.m.) to square off against non-conference foe Lakeland University out of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
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