ANGOLA, Ind. - The Kalamazoo College football team won its Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener 38-31 at Trine University on Saturday.
Kalamazoo led 21-7 early in the second quarter before taking a 28-24 lead into halftime.
A 26-yard field goal by Jacob Hardy put Kalamazoo up 31-24 in the middle of the third quarter, but a 62-yard touchdown run by Trine evened the score with 1:08 left in the third.
Kalamazoo used a 12-play, 97-yard drive to score the game-winning touchdown with a two-yard pass from Justin Danzy to Elijah Hamilton-Wray with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter. The Hornet defense forced Trine to punt and a turnover on downs on its final two possessions to seal the win.
The win over Trine was Kalamazoo's first since a 33-30 double overtime win in 2006 and the first in Angola since 2003.
Kalamazoo put up 534 yards of total offense compared to 389 for Trine. Kalamazoo had 432 yards of passing offense compared to 221 for Trine. The Thunder rushed for 168 yards compared to 102 for Kalamazoo.
The Hornets had 30 first downs in the game while limiting Trine to just 13. Kalamazoo held the ball for 34:27 compared to 25:33 for Trine.
Justin Danzy completed 37-of-51 passes for 423 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Elijah Hamilton-Wray rushed for 81 yards on 15 carries with a 60-yard touchdown run. Hamilton-Wray also had six catches for 39 yards, including the game-winning touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
Josh Wise had 11 receptions for 184 yards with two touchdowns. Cameron Shegos had five catches for 43 yards and a score. Alex Dietrich had eight catches for 80 yards.
Connor Rzeznik led the defense with nine total tackles. Thomas Tabor and Zac Hill were each in on a sack.
Kalamazoo is off next week before hosting Albion College for Homecoming at 2 p.m. on Oct. 19.