Football Team Defeats Wisconsin Lutheran, 43-29; Comets have first winning season since 1998

OLIVET, MI. -- Under first-year head coach Irv Sigler, the Olivet College football team rallied from an early third quarter deficit to defeat Wisconsin Lutheran College today, 43-29, at Griswold Field. With the win, the Comets end their season with a 5-4 overall and 3-3 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association record. Olivet also secures its first winning season since 1998 and only the third in the last 25 years. With the loss, the Warriors' conclude their first season in the MIAA with a 3-7 overall and 0-6 league mark.

In the win, the Comet rushing attack accounted for 431 of the team's 470 yards of total offense. Freshman Dwight Houston ran for a season-high 128 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. Sophomore Mick Faasen had 23 carries for 122 yards and two touchdowns and freshman Damien Brown  carried the ball 19 times for 117 yards.

"I am very proud of this team. They played very well today despite the not so ideal conditions," said Sigler. "It was cold and parts of the field were slippery. Dwight did a great job running off tackle."

In addition, sophomore quarterback Rick Mason completed two-of-three passes for 39 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brown. Mason also had five carries for 52 yards.

After the Comets fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, the Warriors marched down the field to take a 7-0 lead. Olivet responded with Faasen's first score. Junior Dustin Thomas ran the ball in for the two-point conversion and the Comets led 8-7. WLC added another touchdown to take a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Brown scored his rushing touchdown and Mason completed the two-point PAT attempt to freshman Andy Storey to give the Comets the lead back at 16-13. The Warriors added a touchdown with 6:04 left in the stanza and they led 20-16 at halftime.

Ryan Elbrecht connected on a 19-yard field goal for WLC at the 12:18 mark of the third quarter. The Comets then put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a two-yard run by Houston. Senior Eric Pocan made the PAT kick to tie the score at 23. The kick by Pocan was his 21st successful conversion in 2002 which is a single-season Olivet record. After holding the Warriors, the Comets again marched down the field to take the lead, 30-23, on Brown's touchdown catch.

In the fourth quarter, Olivet stretched its lead to 14 points at the 11:10 mark. WLC battled back and cut the lead to 37-29, but Faasen added the final Comet score with 1:47 left to seal the game.

Defensively, senior Mike Hanna had 10 total tackles, including five stops. Senior Travis Lehman contributed seven tackles.

Seth Fitzimmons completed 20-of-34 passes for 247 yards and touchdowns for the Warriors. Ryan Troge led all receivers eight catches for 116 yards.