Hope College football routs Kalamazoo 48-13 to reach 8-0, setting up a first-place showdown at unbeaten Calvin on Nov. 7

HOLLAND, Mich. — Hope College’s football team is 8-0 after a 48-13 home win over Kalamazoo College on Saturday, and the ninth-ranked Flying Dutch now head to Grand Rapids to play for first place in the MIAA.

Hope, 5-0 in the league, plays at fellow unbeaten Calvin University on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. Hope Athletics says the game is expected to sell out and will be shown on WXSP TV and carried on the Michigan Sports Radio network. It will be only the third football game in the Hope–Calvin rivalry, Hope Athletics noted.

“This is what you sign up for,” Hope coach Peter Stuursma said. “We know what’s at stake, and we know we have to play really, really well.”

Schuiteman closes in on a 30-year-old record

Freshman running back Brody Schuiteman of Jenison scored three of Hope’s first four touchdowns, on runs of 3, 1 and 4 yards. That gives him 17 rushing touchdowns this season, four short of the school record of 21 that Brandon Graham set in 1996. That moves him into fourth on Hope’s single-season list, one behind Mason Opple (2018) and Chance Strickland (2024), who are tied for second with 18. He entered the game tied for the most rushing touchdowns in NCAA Division III.

“When you’re 219 pounds and run behind your pads like that, that’s kind of fun,” Stuursma said. “To have a freshman make that big of an impact is pretty unique.”

How the game went

Hope led 20-0 at halftime. Safety Tyson Mann of Grandville intercepted a deep pass at the Hope 24 to set up the second touchdown, and Holland’s Connor Knapp, a West Ottawa graduate, set up the third with a 16-yard punt return that put Hope near midfield. Senior H-back Seth Luhmann scored that one on a 1-yard run.

In the second half, senior quarterback Alex Thole hit Trevor Griffiths for an 82-yard touchdown, according to the box score, and sophomore quarterback Jack Bullock broke a 79-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Easton Suidinski added an 11-yard score with 29 seconds left.

The defense, led by sophomore linebacker Nolan Vis of Hudsonville, shut Kalamazoo out for three quarters and held the Hornets to 35 rushing yards. Kalamazoo (3-5, 2-3 MIAA) scored both of its touchdowns in the fourth quarter on passes from Brayden Ledin.

By the numbers, Hope ran for a season-high 363 yards and gained 617 in all, against 332 for Kalamazoo. Thole completed 17 passes for 250 yards, and Griffiths caught five for 141. Hope held the ball for 37 minutes and 21 seconds.

Hope cracked the D3football.com Top 10 for the first time in October, as we reported after its rout of Alma, and it has not lost since.

Sources:
Hope College Athletics, “Ninth-Ranked Football Rushes Past Kalamazoo, Sets Up First-Place Showdown” (Oct. 31, 2026; recap, box score, next game), https://athletics.hope.edu/news/2026/10/31/ninth-ranked-football-rushes-past-kalamazoo-sets-up-first-place-showdown.aspx
Photo: Bradley Tech vs. Pulaski football 2025, Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bradley_Tech_vs._Pulaski_football_2025_18_(Bradley_Tech_on_offense).jpg

Holland

Tags: Hope College · Hope football · MIAA · Calvin University · Kalamazoo College · College football