Millikin’s Big Blue football team lost to the Flying Dutchmen of Hope College Saturday, Sept. 14.

Even though the team lost 41-7, they managed to keep the Flying Dutchmen to just one score in the second half. The team fought hard, but could not make a comeback.

The Big Blue went into the game prepared to win, but, “Hope pulled some stuff out that they had not shown their first game,” said Coach Pat Etherton. Changes needed to be made on Millikin’s defense and “it caught our guys off guard and it took them a little bit to get used to their offense,” said Etherton.

However, football games are not just won by the defense. It takes a combined effort from both sides of the ball. When asked about the offensive game, Coach Etherton says, “We didn’t execute very well on offense. We put ourselves in bad positions and had a couple of turnovers. Our mistakes were self-inflicted”.

Even with the loss, Big Blue has positives that they are building upon. “We have improved from our first game. Our guys have played hard every time they hit the field,” said Coach Etherton. The Big Blue football team is riddled with injuries and, because of that, “it is giving our young guys some extra experience.”

Millikin will not have a game on Saturday, Sept. 21, due to it being their bye week. Coach Etherton is looking forward to the bye week. Etherton says that “We are going to use this bye week to get healthy and focus on us. We’re going to correct our mistakes and cover the stuff we’ll be using for the next 8 or 9 weeks.” Etherton continued to stress the point by saying “It’s really all about us. This week is all about us. It’s about us getting healthy and getting better.”

Big Blue football will return for another away game on Sept. 28.