ANGOLA, IND.-- Trine came out on top of a back-and-forth offensive duel, earning a 51-45 victory over Albion Saturday afternoon to remain perfect in MIAA play.
The Thunder racked up over 600 yards of total offense for the second-consecutive week, reaching 610 on the afternoon. That total tied for the fifth-highest in a game in school-history. Taylor Masiewicz (Belmont, Mich./Rockford) accounted for over 400 yards of total offense for the second-consecutive game, completing 22-of-34 passes for 317 yards and a touchdown through the air, and adding 86 yards on 16 carries on the ground. Masiewicz spread the ball around effectively through the air, as he completed passes to eight different receivers. The Thunder set program single-game records for offensive plays (96), and all-purpose yards (793) . Trine improves to 5-2 overall, and is the only unbeaten in MIAA-play at 3-0. Albion falls to 3-4 overall, 2-2 in conference play.
The Thunder also set a school-record for rushing attempts with 62, which led to Trine picking up 293 rushing yards on the day. Frank Vuocolo (Jackson, Mich./Grass Lake) rushed for three touchdowns, and picked up 59 yards on 17 carries. Frantz Petitpapa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy) continued to prove himself in a dual-threat role, with 78 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground and 55 yards receiving.
Domonic Bona completed 18-of-36 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns for Albion. Joe Mayone caught two of those TD passes and finished with 76 receiving yards on four catches. Mike Czarnecki produced 74 rushing yards on 17 totes, and scored a touchdown. The Britons entered the afternoon averaging a conference-best 245 rushing yards per contest, but were held to 149 on the day.
The game was a shootout from the get-go, with Trine producing the first 14 points on a 27-yard, fourth-down strike from Masiewicz to Anthony Yoder (Goshen, Ind./Concord) and a 12-yard TD run by Petitpapa. The Britons answered right back on a 3-yard touchdown run by Colin Parks and a 63-yard punt return TD by Mikal McKoy.
A Joel Lopshire (Angola, Ind./Angola) field goal briefly restored a 17-14 Trine lead, before Czarnecki danced his way through the Thunder defense to give Albion a 21-17 lead in the second quarter.
The rest of the half was all Trine however, as Vuocolo capped back-to-back scoring drives with touchdown runs. Vuocolo's three rushing TDs tied for the third-highest total in a game in school-history.
Lopshire capped the scoring in the first half with his second field goal of the afternoon, connecting from 30 yards out with four seconds remaining in the half.
The third quarter belonged to Albion for the most part, as the Britons scored the first 14 points of the half to regain the lead. Bona hit Mayone for scores of 27, and two yards. The second of those strikes gave the Britons a 35-34 lead midway through the third quarter.
The last of Lopshire's three field goals gave TU the lead for good, at 37-35 with 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Lopshire was perfect on field goal attempts and extra points on the afternoon. His three field goal makes tied a school-record. Lopshire has proved to be a valuable weapon this season for the Thunder, with seven field-goal makes in eight attempts, and a game-winning kick to his credit.
The Thunder extended the lead to nine when Tyler Peoples (Glendale, Ariz./Independence) scored on an end-around from five-yards out. That pushed the score to 44-35.
Albion cut the game back to a single-possession when Cody Lehman hit a 30-yard field goal to cut the score to 44-38 with 6:52 to play.
Trine was not content to merely milk the clock late in the game however, as the Thunder answered back with a quick-strike, five-play, 58-yard drive in just 2:02. A key completion from Masiewicz to Ty Fischbach (Oxford, Ind./Benton Central) for 47-yards on a third-down kept the chains moving. Vuocolo capped the drive with his final TD rush to make the score 51-38 with 4:50 remaining.
Fischbach stepped up big for the Thunder, with a career-high 106 receiving yards on five catches.
Albion cut the score back to single-digits immediately, as Bona hit Zach Brigham for a 61-yard score on third-and-long to cut the score to 51-45.
The Britons had a chance at a game-tying drive, but Christian Chase (Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi) batted down a last-second pass as time expired to seal the win.
Michael Spears (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) finished with a team-high 13 tackles for Trine. Aaron Wolf (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North) recorded 2.5 sacks and finished with seven tackles.
Gage Corner (Leo, Ind./Leo) moved into fifth on Trine's all-time list in receptions, and now has 103 in his career.
The Thunder control their own destiny the rest of the way as the only unbeaten in MIAA-play. Trine travels to Kalamazoo next Saturday, Nov. 1 for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Hornets.