College Football Roundup: Siena Heights comes back to beat Olivet Nazarene
ADRIAN — After trailing by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, Siena Heights football roared back Saturday with 21 unanswered points to beat Olivet Nazarene, 28-24, in its 2022 season opener.
The Saints got three second half touchdowns as Will Alexander (Sand Creek), Quincy Johnson Jr. and Eric Williams II all crossed the goal line to complete the comeback. The SHU defense did the rest, holding the high-flying Tigers off the scoreboard after they scored a field goal with 9:12 left in the third quarter to make it 24-7.
Alexander’s short touchdown run was set up by a 66-yard run by Andre Chenault, which seemed to ignite the Saints offense. The redshirt freshman went for 46 yards on six carries in his first collegiate appearance.
SHU’s defense got the Saints on the board early when Vincent Walker scooped up a blocked punt and returned it three yards for a touchdown. Nazarene scored on three touchdown passes from backup quarterback Cameron Crouch, who had replaced starter David Sutton on Nazarene's second drive of the game. Sutton was the punter on the first drive that the Saints blocked. He didn’t return.
The Saints offense sputtered in the first half with its longest play being a 9-yard run by Kaleb Jefferson. The second half was a different story, however, as Ryan Minor directed three touchdown scoring drives.
The go-ahead drive was finished off by Williams, who caught a short pass from Minor and bulled his way into the end zone with 6:09 left in the game.
The Tigers drove inside the Saints 20-yard line, but fell shy of the first down on a fourth-down pass. SHU got the ball back and ran the clock down to 1:05 to play when Andrew Bookman got off a 44-yard punt – his best of the day – from three yards deep into his own end zone.
The Tigers took over at midfield, but went backward with Joe Wharton and Walker recording sacks.
Top Performances
Siena Heights
Zach Keyser: 11 tackles, 0.5 for loss
Kole Murlin: 10 tackles, 1 for loss
Antonio Smiley: 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks
Ryan Minor: 9-19 passing, 71 yards, 1 touchdown
Coach Thoughts
Matt Kohn, SHU: What a gutsy performance, by everybody. There were a lot of physical errors in the first half. We were doing the right thing; we just made some errors. In the past we might have panicked or things would have gotten negative, but there was no panic. At the end of the day, we trusted each other did what we had to do.
Up Next
Siena Heights: 1 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 17 at St. Xavier (Ill.)
Heidelberg 31, Adrian 0
TIFFIN, Ohio — The Bulldogs faced a tough task to open the season on the road against the 24th-ranked Student Princes and held their own for a half before Heidelberg pulled away in the fourth.
The Bulldogs (0-1) were held to 237 yards of total offense as starting quarterback Noah Heide was knocked out of the game early, but then returned late after backup Aaron Jenkins left with an injury of his own.
Adrian trailed 10-0 at the half and 17-0 after the third before the Student Princes scored on a long touchdown drive and later a pick-6 as the Bulldogs were down inside the Heidelberg 15-yard line.
Top Performers
Tche Leroux: 5 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks
Kyle Minder: 10 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack
Kenny Kujawa: 4 receptions, 63 yards
Up Next
Adrian: 1 p.m. Saturday vs. Hanover
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Siena Heights football comes back to beat Olivet Nazarene
