OLIVET, Mich. – A determined Calvin effort came just short as the Knights dropped a 21-13 decision at The University of Olivet Saturday afternoon.

Calvin trailed 14-13 at the close of the third quarter. Olivet opened the fourth quarter with a five-play, 72-yard drive to take a 21-13 lead.

The Knights had a first down on the Olivet 18-yard line early in the fourth, but the drive ended with an interception in the end zone. A subsequent Calvin drive ended with another interception. Calvin's defense got a late stop on fourth down to give the Knights one last chance with 28 seconds remaining. Calvin was able to move the ball to the Olivet 49 with five seconds left but the Comets were able to break through for a quarterback sack on the final play of the game to seal the win.

Olivet (3-5 overall 2-3 MIAA) carried the momentum through much of the first half, churning up nearly 200 yards on the ground. The Comets opened the game with an 11-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Tronice Hammond to take a 7-0 lead.

Olivet's Dontal Wright opened the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run to bump the Comets into a 14-0 lead.

Calvin's defense began to stiffen from that point on and a late second quarter field from 30 yards out by Calvin freshman Sal Ruffino (Shelby Twp., Mich./Eisenhower HS) put the Knights on the scoreboard with the teams eventually heading to halftime at 14-3.

Calvin took the momentum on its opening drive of the second half, moving 70 yards on six plays to score. The drive was completed with a 41-yard catch-and-run by freshman Hunter Hogan (Ravenna, Mich./Ravenna HS) who connected with graduate student quarterback Chase Bradman (Kentwood, Mich./South Christian HS) on the scoring play.

Ruffino connected on a 40-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the third quarter to bring the Knights within a point at 14-13.

Olivet responded with a scoring drive of its own to open the fourth quarter with quarterback Thomas Foust scrambling in from 12 yards out to put the Comets up 21-13.

Olivet finished with 367 yards of offense including 271 on the ground. Calvin finished 242 yards of offense with 181 coming through the air.

Bradman was 17 of 34 passing for 181 yards and one touchdown. Hogan was the prime beneficiary, catching a career-high nine passes for a career-high 119 yards and one touchdown. Freshman Carter Bylsma (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) snared three catches for 27 yards while freshman Luke Michmerhuizen (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) had two catches for 18 yards. Graduate student Jaier Harden (Grand Rapids, Mich./Innovation Central HS) led Calvin's ground game with 70 yards of rushing on 13 attempts.

On the defensive end, freshman Carson Schnurstein (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS), junior Brady Jacobs (Grant, Mich./Grant HS) and freshman Trevor Martens (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) all collected 11 tackles with Jacobs racking up a new career-high. Schnurstein matched a career-high while recording double-digits in tackles for the third straight game. Martens meanwhile finished one tackle shy of a career-high and hit the double-digit mark for the third time in four games. Schnurstein had two tackles for loss while Martens had one. Junior Paul VanderPloeg (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) was close behind with nine tackles while also punting once for 50 yards.

Wright, the MIAA's leading ground-gainer heading into the contest, finished with 113 hard-earned yards on 31 carries against the Calvin defense.

COACHES COMMENT: "Hats off to Olivet. They had a good plan and executed well today," said Calvin head football coach Trent Figg. "Our players battled and we came up short in the end. Week after week I am proud of the way our players respond and battle. We started slow today, and that was the difference in the game. I love this team and we will get ourselves ready for another battle next week."

NEXT UP: Calvin will host rival Hope next Saturday at Eagles Stadium. The game is a sell-out.