Calvin University

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Calvin remained unbeaten and locked in a three-way tie for first place in the MIAA standings with a 52-20 conference victory over Albion College Saturday afternoon at Knight Stadium.

Ranked 23^rd nationally, the Knights are now 7-0 on the season and more importantly, 4-0 in the MIAA which leaves Calvin tied for first place with (4-0) Hope and Trine.

Calvin will travel to Trine next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.

In its victory over Albion on Saturday, Calvin piled up 553 yards of offense including 182 on the ground.

Sophomore Leighton Kolk (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids HS) had 11 carries for a career-high 51 yards and two touchdowns to lead the ground game. Junior Hayden Slegers (Ontario, Ca./Ontario Christian HS) had 43 yards, junior Nick Earles (Greenville, Mich./Greenville HS) 35 yards and senior quarterback Thomas Vaccaro (Franklin, Tenn./Christ Presbyterian) 34 yards with a touchdown.

Vaccaro had another stellar game, completing 24 of 31 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns against just one interception. Vaccaro bumped his Calvin single-season record passing touchdown total up to 33 touchdowns with Saturday's performance.

Vaccaro connected on ariel scoring strikes of 49, 40, 24 and 21 yards.

Calvin led 27-7 at halftime despite an uneven half that included a pair of turnovers, a blocked extra-point attempt and a blocked field goal attempt.

Albion missed on a first quarter field goal attempt and had another opportunity to cash in after intercepting a tipped pass by Vaccaro at midfield. Calvin's defense stood tall on the ensuing Albion possession, forcing the Britons to punt.

The Knights followed with an 84-yard touchdown drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown blast by Kolk on the final play of the first quarter. The drive was keyed by a 40-yard pass reception by Hogan on a wheel route up the left sideline that pushed the Knights out of the shadows of their own goalposts.

Calvin went up 14-0 on a 49-yard touchdown toss from Vaccaro to sophomore Aiden O'Brien (Decatur, Mich./Lawton HS) early in the second quarter with junior Sal Ruffino (Shelby Twp., Mich./Eisenhower HS) converting the extra-point.

Vaccaro connected on a 40-yard touchdown throw to junior Luke Michmerhuizen (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) with 6:09 left in the quarter. The point-after was blocked.

Albion caught a break when the Britons recovered a muffed punt on the Calvin 32. Five plays later, Dorian Freeman bulled in from a yard out for Albion. The extra-point was good and the Brits had closed to within 20-7.

Starting on its own 25, Calvin moved down the field in three passing plays by Vaccaro with the final pass a 24-yard touchdown throw to junior Drake Irwin (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) on an "in" route through the right seam of the Albion defense.

Calvin had one more opportunity to score after its defense forced the Britons into a quick 3-and-out but a 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked in the final seconds of the half.

Calvin took its opening drive of the second half 56 yards in for a score with Vaccaro completing the final seven on a touchdown run up the middle – his third rushing touchdown of the season to help put the Knights up 35-7. Vaccaro also connected with Hogan on a pass for the two-point conversion.

Hogan then returned an Albion punt for 33 yards to set the Knights up with great field position on the Briton 21-yard line. Vaccaro hooked up with a quick pitch-and-catch to junior M'Khi Guy (Muskegon Heights, Mich./Muskegon HS). The fleet slot receiver turned the play into a 21-yard touchdown – his fourth receiving touchdown of the season.

Albion came up with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Ian Deromedi to Jaylan Johnson but the Knights answered with a 51-yard touchdown drive, punctuated by a two-yard touchdown run by Kolk. O'Brien set up the drive with a 38-yard kickoff return.

Ruffino followed with a 20-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to boost Calvin into a 52-13 advantage. Albion answered with another one-yard touchdown run by Freeman in the final minutes to close out the scoring.

Hogan caught nine passes from Vaccaro for 118 yards while racking up 46 yards in punt returns. Michmerhuizen had four catches for 64 yards. His second quarter touchdown catch marked his seventh receiving touchdown of the season and the 20^th of his collegiate career. O'Brien had two catches for 57 yards and a touchdown along with 54 yards of kickoff return yardage. Junior Jude Klunder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) had three catches for 45 yards with Irwin snaring three balls for 40 yards.

Junior Carson Schnurstein (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) led the Calvin defense with 10 tackles. Junior Trevor Martens (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) had six tackles while freshman Gavin Grueter (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS), junior Caiden Bolduc (Muskegon, Mich./Reeths-Puffer HS) and sophomore Bryson Newell (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw HS) and all had five tackles each. Bolduc had a pair of sacks and one pass break-up.

Freshman Sean Foley (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic Central HS) had a strong game with four tackles and one pass break-up.

Senior defensive tackle Peter Markvluwer (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) had three tackles with 2.5 for loss and one sack. He now has a team-leading four sacks. Freshman Nolan Bloomquist (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) had four tackles including one for loss while breaking up one pass. Senior C.J Sheets (Longwood, Fla./Lake Mary HS) and sophomore Reed Vogeler (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia HS) and senior Brady Jacobs (Grant, Mich./Grant HS) had four tackles each.

Senior Caden Kolanowski (Goodrich, Mich./Goodrich HS), junior Jaden Lewis (Spring, TX /Legacy School of Sports) and Sheets all had a tackle for loss with Sheets notching a sack - his fourth of the season.

Junior Gage Jones (Ludington, Mich./Ludington HS), Kolanowski and Lewis added three tackles apiece.

Deromedi was 15 of 22 passing for 201 yards and a touchdown for Albion. Alex Trudell had 39 yards on the ground for Albion. Jaylan Johnson had four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown with Sherron Sutton adding four catches for 90 yards. Devon Buskin Jr. led Albion defensively with 11 tackles.

Albion finished with 245 yards of offense including just 70 yards on the ground.

COACHES COMMENT: "We knew that the key to winning today's game was stopping their run game," said Calvin head football coach Trent Figg. "I thought our defense did a great job of stopping the run and putting us in a great position to win. Conversely, I thought we did a great job of running the ball ourselves. Our offensive line played a key role in that. Our offense continued to be explosive. I thought we played hard from start-to-finish. We had a few things that we had to clean up from the first half but I'm pleased with our effort today. Anytime you can win your first seven games, it's a good thing. We have a big challenge ahead of next week and we'll need a great week of preparation to be ready for that challenge."

NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to Trine next Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.