Mason Opple and Hope throttled Trine, which had won the past two MIAA titles. Hope athletics file photo by Steve Herppich

By Adam Turer
D3sports.com

One win doesn’t make an entire season.

It doesn’t eliminate years of frustration and disappointment. 

It can’t accomplish the other goals still waiting to be achieved.

But man, it feels goooooood. 

A trio of teams got the monkey off their back in the early part of the 2019 season. By doing so, they crossed off one of their 2019 goals, excited their fan base, made their alumni proud, and propelled themselves on a trajectory toward reaching their ultimate goal for this season.

Mount St. Joseph hadn’t beaten Franklin since 2009. That’s when current head coach Tyler Hopperton was a sophomore. 

Texas Lutheran hadn’t beaten Hardin-Simmons since 2014, the last year the Bulldogs reached the playoffs. 

A lone conference loss to Trine prevented Hope from winning the MIAA in 2017 and 2018. 

Not only did these underdogs pull off the victory, but they each did so in convincing fashion. 

“I felt like this was it for me. I knew I had to get it done,” said Lions senior quarterback Chaiten Tomlin. “Coach told us to go out and score as many points as we can. We knew the defense would get it done for us.”

Behind Tomlin’s six touchdown passes, the Lions rolled past the Grizzlies, 50-27. Tomlin holds nearly every passing record in program history, but had yet to lead his team to a defeat of its HCAC nemesis. 

“I was a little nervous at the beginning of the week,” he said. “After we won, it was a major relief.”

Mason Opple led the Flying Dutchmen to 18 wins in his first 23 starts, including an 11-2 record in conference play. He had yet to notch a win over Trine. The Thunder were ranked in the Top 25, playing on their home field. The same field on which they handily defeated Hope two seasons ago. The Thunder are no longer ranked in the Top 25 after losing to Hope, 51-0. 

“Without trying to lessen the importance of any other game in our league, they’re the team that’s gotten us, gotten the rings. We circled that game on our calendars,” said Opple. “We haven’t forgotten the feeling of walking off that field two years ago when it was 51-14. To go out and get it done on their field felt pretty great.”

Texas Lutheran plays in a conference that consistently boasts two teams ranked in the top ten. Both are regular playoff participants. One has won the Stagg Bowl in two of the past three seasons. 

Daniel Enriquez has had a big impact in his first season in the TLU secondary. Texas Lutheran athletics photo

It used to be common to treat those two games differently than the rest of the ASC contests on the schedule. But this season felt different. After scoring three defensive touchdowns in a 38-27 win over Hardin-Simmons, the Bulldogs believe. 

“There was no doubt in our mind going into the game that we could do that. We felt excitement and confidence. We really pride ourselves in believing that we can, even when outsiders don’t,” said Bulldogs senior defensive lineman Manny Longoria. Years before, it was just make it through those two games and try to win the other ones. This win made us believe that we can go beat a playoff caliber team, and that there’s no reason to believe we can’t beat anybody else on our schedule.”

It’s undeniable that in years past, these games came with an added sense of pressure. That did not lead to better results for the challengers. But, when they started playing with more confidence and energy, they had fun. That fun was contagious. 

“I said to our guys that I wanted to see the joy that our guys have when they play with each other. The best thing as a coach is to step back and watch your guys play hard,” said Hope head coach Peter Stuursma. “They played inspired.”

There’s a nuance that the coaches have to navigate in preparing for these big games. You can say that it’s just like any other game, but your players aren’t going to buy that. Especially as an alum who has been a part of the rivalry, you know that your players are going to be a bit more hyped that week. 

“That game has been put up on a pedestal. Because we won the conference for so many years before Franklin took that role, we felt like that was the HCAC championship game. We felt that Franklin Week changed the mindset,” said Hopperton. “In the past couple years, we tried to raise every week of preparation to be similar to that level, so when it is Franklin Week it feels like the status quo. We didn’t want guys to go outside of themselves or outside of the scheme.” 

There was no sugarcoating it. If these teams wanted to reach their 2019 goals, they had to win these games. 

“It was critical for the goals of our team. Every week in the ASC is always a challenge, but there’s a couple teams that we know we have to beat to achieve our goals,” said TLU coach Carl Gustafson. “We felt like we had some momentum. Our guys were confident and we were so proud of how hard they played.”

The players knew that they were playing for their former teammates who couldn’t slay the beast. In some cases, they were playing for alumni and coaches who had been waiting for this moment for several years. 

“All of our phones were blowing up with our previous teammates congratulating us because they know how much that win meant to us and what a statement it was for our program,” said Longoria. “Our jerseys don’t have last names on them. We are playing for everyone who’s worn that number that we have on our backs.”

The Friday night after the Franklin game, Mount St. Joseph held its athletic Hall of Fame inductions. Former running back Mike Lovell was inducted, and former head coach Rod Huber was in attendance. He earned his share of wins over the Grizzlies, but retired on a losing streak. 

“He told us to go play the rest of our games like we did against Franklin,” said Tomlin. “Going into that game, I heard from guys I played with who graduated. I even got messages from alumni I didn't know who reached out and wished me encouragement. After the game, I had messages from those guys congratulating us.”

There were key moments in each game that served as turning points. For the Bulldogs, the defensive touchdowns were obvious game-changers. The Lions breathed a collective sigh of relief once they took a 29-0 lead in the second quarter. Opple powered forward for a first down on 4th and 1, then the Flying Dutchmen defense earned a big stop. 

“That electrified our sidelines,” said Stuursma. “That’s fun to watch.”  

Every player on the roster was excited by the upset. So too were the alumni watching near and far. These wins could be program-defining. These are the type of games that create text message threads among alumni, and motivated former players to reach out and congratulate young men they’ve never met on such a momentous victory. 

“One of the special things about this place is the family atmosphere. Part of that is because of our alumni. We have alumni come and speak to our team each week. They are really engaged in our program. Our guys understand that when they put on that uniform they represent not just themselves but everyone else who has ever put on that uniform,” said Gustafson. “We’ve made a big effort to reconnect to that. I think that has helped our program. Our guys know that they are supported and encouraged and held accountable, too. The key to this football team thus far is that they have embraced that accountability and they have a lot of resolve to do something special and put this program back where we want it to be.”

Now what? These big wins all came in the first half of the season. There is so much football still to play. Win out, and advance to the playoffs. Lose focus, get caught looking backward, and that potentially program-changing win simply becomes a memorable upset in an otherwise average or disappointing season. 

“We’re trying to look at this the exact same as every other week. We’re going to play a very good football team on Saturday,” said Stuursma. “Last week doesn’t score anything for this week. We’ve got to worry about today.”

The bigger goals won’t be realized until Week 12. 

“As soon as we beat them, we knew we had to let it go the next day and go into the next week prepared,” said Tomlin. “Making the playoffs would mean a lot to our seniors, our program, and our coaching staff.” 

“Guys still have the goal of the playoffs ahead of them,” added Hopperton. 

“That’s been the goal since the day last season ended.”