Experienced Hope College football roster eyeing history

HOLLAND — History could be made in Holland this fall.

The Hope College football team has never won a conference title in three consecutive seasons dating back to the inception of the program back in 1902.

The Flying Dutchmen won the MIAA in 2019, then took a year off because of the pandemic. When the dust settled at the end of the 2021 campaign, the team finished 8-2 and added more hardware to the trophy case with a share of the MIAA title.

Heading into 2022, the team seems primed to pick up right where they left off a year ago and finished first in the MIAA coaches preseason poll. The offense, averaging 35 points per game last year, returns all but one starter after right tackle Brady Eding graduated. Even with one All-MIAA performer having moved on, the unit still has two more in left tackle Luke Marsh and wideout Terrell Harris and has several other second-team honorees. They also added a transfer running back from Division II Grand Valley State in Ja'Kaurie Kirkland.

That level of talent and continuity is rare, if not nearly impossible, to find within a college football program. Most of the players returning on offense helped win that share of the title despite it being their first season getting significant playing time at the college level. Harris, leading rusher Daniel Romano and quarterback Chase Brown never played many significant snaps before the season opener in 2021. Even late in the season many of the players were still getting used to the speed of the game at the college level. Now, with a full year of game reps and a level of comfort head coach Peter Stuursma and the rest of the group are exuding confidence heading into the new season.

"When you've seen it and gone through it before, you just feel more comfortable and have more confidence and that's such an important part of sports," Stuursma said. "When you give a bunch of 18-22-year-olds confidence, that's a great thing."

That familiarity with the college game and the offensive scheme has raised expectations within the program. The time the team would normally use to install an offense or a new set of plays has been cut in half simply because everybody is already on the same page and they know their jobs.

Harris, a junior who led the team in receiving with 634 yards and five touchdowns in 2021, said he's been able to fine-tune his route running and get in better shape heading into this year. Now that he knows what to expect against opposing defenses, he'll know how to attack them even better than he did a season ago.

Another thing he gained last year, probably the most valuable thing a pass-catcher could have, is chemistry with his quarterback. Brown and then-senior Joey Stark competed for the starting signal-caller job and alternated reps even through the first two weeks of the season. But toward the middle of the year, Brown proved that he was the guy to lead the Flying Dutchmen. Once that happened, Harris and Brown formed a connection that's only gotten stronger since the season ended in November.

"It was both of our first time starting last year, but we developed a strong chemistry even before that because we were good friends," Harris said. "It's really nice to have that one year under our belt, now we sort of all know what we're doing. Chase just knows everything and it's nice having that guy we can look to whenever we need."

Things will be a bit different on the defensive side of the ball. Not only did six starters graduate from last year's team but the group will be learning an entirely new scheme after longtime defensive coordinator Mike Ricketts retired at the end of last season.

After James Ross III was briefly named defensive coordinator before accepting an assistant job at the University of Cincinnati, Stuursma turned to Jacob Pardonnet. A Hope alumn who played in Rickett's defense, he'll be switching things up a bit. The Flying Dutchmen will be playing in a base 4-2-5 scheme, meaning a lot of defensive backs on the field most of the time with speed and aggression a hallmark of the defense.

Because everybody on defense is learning from the ground up, the lack of continuity of players between one year and the next doesn't make that much of a difference. Andrew Debri, a sophomore linebacker, is the team's returning leader in sacks and second in solo tackles.

He's projected to have an even bigger role this season, with All-MIAA selections Jeremiah Purnell and Toby Hulst gone and consistent linebacker play critical in the new scheme. Though they've only been learning under Pardonnet for about six months, they're feeling good about where they're at right now.

"This spring was huge for me, I really did a lot of studying, paying attention to details in meetings and during practice and that really helped going into this fall," Debri said. "As long as we're all on the same page and communicating, we should get 11 hats to wherever the ball is, which makes it easy to make a tackle."

The Flying Dutchmen will take that familiar offense and new-look defense into the season when they host Aurora (IL) on September 3 on the campus of Hope College. Even with a history in the grasp of the 2022 team, Stuursma hasn't mentioned it once to his team.

Instead of having grandiose season-long goals, he's focused on one thing and one thing only — Aurora.

"I promise you, we haven't even talked about that, we talk about game one, Aurora," Stuursma said. " Coach Pardonnet was running a meeting and he told the guys 'I bet Stuursma doesn't even know who we play game two,' and he's right because I don't care about game two, right now I'm focused on game one."

—Contact Assistant Sports Editor Will Kennedy at Will.Kennedy@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByWillKennedy and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Experienced Hope College football roster eyeing history