November 16, 2002 - Kalamazoo College vs. Adrian College (MIAA Contest)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College football team held on for a 31-24 victory over Adrian College at Angell Field this afternoon. The game came down to the final play as Adrian quarterback Adam Tubaro threw into the end zone from the 19-yardline and was intercepted by Conor Lefere who ran it back to midfield as time expired.
Kalamazoo scored the go-ahead touchdown on a one-yard run by Bryan Gnyp with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter. That play was set up by two big passing plays, a 51-yarder from Gnyp to Ben Farkas, followed by a 24-yarder to Ellis who was tackled at the one.
Kalamazoo trailed 14-0 early in the second quarter, but made it 14-6 with a one-yard score by Matthew Jarboe with 51 seconds before halftime. Kalamazoo would score twice in the third quarter to take a 21-14 lead, first on a six-yard touchdown pass from Gnyp to T.J. Thayer, giving Gnyp 51 career touchdown passes and a new school record. Kalamazoo than scored on a 13-yard pass from Gnyp to Thayer.
Kalamazoo opened the fourth quarter with a 35-yard field goal by Jeff Outslay to increase the lead to 24-14. The Hornets than intercepted a pass on their own one-yardline, but Gnyp was sacked in the end zone for a safety to make it 24-16. Adrian scored a minute later (4th, 4:54) to make it 24-24. Kalamazoo then took the ball 70 yards on eight plays culminating in the one-yard touchdown run by Gnyp.
Bryan Gnyp finished the day 19-of-28 for 219 yards. He had two touchdowns and one interception, but was sacked seven times.
T.J. Thayer was the leading receiver with eight catches for 60 yards. Zach Ellis had four catches for 56 yards. Ben Farkas had three receptions for 74 yards. Andy Graham had three catches for 23 yards and Zach Burton finished with one catch for six yards along with a two-point conversion reception.
Matthew Jarboe was the Hornets' leading rusher with 86 yards on 26 carries and one touchdown. Dwight White had 55 yards on eight carries before suffering an injury late in the first half.
Jeremy Vanisacker led the Kalamazoo defense with 11 total tackles, including three for lost yardage and an interception. Kyle Bainbridge and Dan Derksen each had seven tackles. Brent Klein and Conor Lefere each had an interception.
Kalamazoo dominated time of possession in the game, 39 minutes to 21 minutes. Kalamazoo had 380 yards of total offense while Adrian had just 268 yards. Kalamazoo was 9-of-17 on third down conversions and 4-of-4 on fourth downs. Adrian was 4-of-10 on third down conversions.
Adrian running back Kevin Bostelman entered the game as the MIAA's top rusher with 140.9 yards per game. He was held to just 43 yards on 14 carries this afternoon. Adam Tubaro was 21-of-40 passing for 209 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Steve Kress led the receivers with 79 yards on seven catches. Andy Keimer had 63 yards on six catches. Ron Shiels led the Alma defense with 14 total tackles. Jack Fugate had a team-high three-and-a-half sacks.
Kalamazoo finishes the season with a 5-5 record (2-4 MIAA). Adrian finishes 6-4 (3-3 MIAA).
