KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College football team lost its season opener 40-13 to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at Angell Field on Saturday.
Kalamazoo took advantage of a Rose-Hulman turnover on the Engineers' opening possession as Clay Wilkey scored from one yard out to put the Hornets up 6-0.
Rose-Hulman proceeded to score two touchdowns in the first quarter and two in the second quarter to take a 26-6 lead into halftime.
Rose-Hulman scored again late in the third and midway through the fourth to go up 40-6.
Kalamazoo made it a 40-13 final when Brock Rucinski connected with Justin Rabidoux on a 29-yard touchdown pass with three seconds remaining.
Rose-Hulman put up 556 yards of total offense on 90 plays while limiting Kalamazoo to 304 yards on 86 plays. The Engineers were 10-of-19 on third downs while the Hornets converted just 5-of-19.
Elijah Hamilton-Wray rushed for a Kalamazoo team-high 65 yards on six carries. Freshman Clay Wilkey finished with 37 yards on 13 carries.
Aaron McGuire was 11-of-27 passing for 91 yards with one interception. He also carried the ball 20 times with a net of eight yards. Brock Rucinski was 6-of-11 behind center for 95 yards with one touchdown.
Jordan Jabara had a team-high four catches for 45 yards. Freshman Justin Rabidoux had two catches for 44 yards while K.J. Schultz had two catches for 31 yards. Alex Dietrich, Cameron Shegos, Jacob Lenning and Elijah Hamilton-Wray also had two catches each.
Connor Rzeznik led the Kalamazoo defense with 19 total tackles including one for lost yardage. Dylan Zerki finished with 18 total tackles including one for lost yardage and one fumble recovery. BJ Smith had 10 tackles while Sean Bauer had seven with an interception.
Kalamazoo defeated Rose-Hulman 28-23 in last year's season opener and the Engineers went on to win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 7-3 overall record.
Kalamazoo faces Wheaton (Ill.) at Angell Field next Saturday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. The Thunder were ranked No. 24 in the D3football.com Preseason Top 25.