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Kick returner Chris Leigh set a school record with a 96-touchdown, but the Hope College football team lost its season opener to Monmouth College 31-19 on Saturday in front of 50th annual Community Day crowd of 2,456.
The Flying Dutchmen will look to rebound on Saturday, Sept. 12 when they play at Elmhurst, Illinois. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Central.
Leigh broke Andy Snyder's 11-year-old kickoff return for a touchdown record late in the third quarter at Smith Stadium. The old mark of 90 was set against Tri-State in 2004.
On the kickoff, Leigh sprinted through the middle of the Monmouth special teams, outran the kicker and raced down the Monmouth sideline for his second touchdown as a member of the Flying Dutchmen. The sophomore running back from Lake Orion, Michigan (Lake Orion HS), cut Hope's deficit to 24-19 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.
Monmouth, however, answered with a scoring drive early in the fourth quarter to put the nonleague game out of reach.
The Flying Dutchmen could not overcome a 17-6 first-half deficit and being outgained 450 yards to 251.
Sophomore running back Mike Miklusicak of Wayland, Michigan (Wayland HS), scored Hope's first touchdown of the season on a 3-yard run with 53 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Leigh, who rushed for 94 yards on 14 carries, added an 8-yard touchdown run during the third quarter.