Millikin suffered a loss on the road this week in football.  The final score was 28-14 at Trine University, Sept. 13, in Angola, Ind. The game was part of the college conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) vs. Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) challenge.

Trine opened the game when scoring on their first drive with a fake punt keeping the drive alive. Millikin had a strong drive early in the second quarter, driving 66 yards to Trines’ 13 yard line. On third down, Millikin quarterback, Nick Pippin connected with Taylor Sanders in the end zone, but Sanders was ruled out of bounds. The drive ended in a missed field goal attempt. With 3:44 Trine was up 14-0. Millikin got on the board with an 81 yard drive that ended with a 24 yard pass from Pippin to Sanders with 48 seconds left in the first half to make the score 14-7.

In the third quarter Millikin dove deep into Trines’ territory, having the first goal at the Thunder’s eight yard line. However Millikin couldn’t convert the opportunity with Justin Brooks being stopped just short of the goal line on fourth and one. Big Blue scored early in the fourth quarter when Pippin hit tight end, Tucker Schwenqel, on a ten yard touchdown pass to cut the advantage to 21-14. The ending score was 28-14

Some game highlights: Millikin had 413 yards with 239 yards passing and 174 yards rushing. Pippin was 12-39 passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor Sanders was Millikin’s top receiver with seven catches for 106 yards and two scores. Brooks led the Millikin rushers with 75 yards on 13 carries.  Freshman Nikia Averitte led Millikin’s tackles with 12 and Andy Roth had 11.

Big Blue football has next weekend off before hosting Aurora University Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. The game will be the first game played at the newly refurbished Frank M. Lindsay field. New turf, lights and a new scoreboard with video will be dedicated prior to the game. This will be the first night game Millikin football has played since 1928.