A beautiful Homecoming Day was spoiled by the visiting football squad Saturday when Mayville State University spun a defensive gem against the Trinity Bible College Lions at Bob Tatum Field, 31-0.

The Lions couldn’t get much going on offense, and its first offensive play was indicative of what the rest of the day turned out to be. A bad snap from center, eluded QB Clint Linthicum and went for a fumble that was recovered 21-yards from the line of scrimmage.

The Comets took advantage of the gift by taking six plays to reach pay dirt from 21 yards out. Trinity’s defense looked as if it would come up with a momentum-swinging stop at the goal line. Faced with a first and goal at the 8-yard line situation, the Lions forced the Comets to decide whether to go for the touchdown on 4th and goal at the one, or take the chip shot field goal. MSU chose the TD route and scored to take a 10-0 lead.

TBC (0-3) was stymied at every offensive turn as it gained just 117 yards on the day. Linthicum found the going a little bit rough through the air, but he was able to find his favorite receiver on the day, Joel Sandoz for five passes and 44 yards. Linthicum finished 6 for 21 and 60 yards with one interception and two fumbles. Running the ball wasn’t any easier for the Lions as they netted just 54 yards on the ground, led by Linthicum and Seth Peterson who both finished with six rushes for 27 yards.

Despite the shutout loss, many good things can be taken from this game and applied to the future schedule. The Lions defense gave up just 344 yards of offense to MSU (217 on the ground), which was significantly better than the 701 yard they gave up the previous week.

Three-hundred forty-four yards will win a lot of ball games, when the offense is clicking, and Defensive Coordinator Orah Garst has to be pretty happy with his squad. Trinity will need its defensive momentum and some offensive spark when they travel to Waxahachie, TX for the first-ever football matchup between two Assembly of God universities.