Adrian College football shows growth in Week 1 under Joe Palka

ADRIAN — The debut of Adrian College football coach Joe Palka got off to a rocky start, falling into a three-score hole to Elmhurst in Saturday's season-opener.

Palka huddled the entire team up around him while trailing, which helped the Bulldogs settle down and blow past the Blue Jays for a 55-20 win.

"Just relax and have a deep breath," Palka said to his team. "Do what you do every day in practice. I was really proud of the way they responded after that."

Adrian's Palka era is off to a good start at 1-0. The team is young and have a long season ahead, but Palka wants his Bulldogs to celebrate when the wins come, even the ones that get off to slow starts.

"It's important to get off to a good start," Palka said. "A lot of guys had a bad taste in the mouth for whatever reason last year and to come out with a win, it's hard to win college football games. When you're able to do that, you need to celebrate it and enjoy it. It certainly makes the next week of preparation more fun."

While Adrian does have a young squad, one position it isn't inexperienced in is quarterback. Senior Noah Heide (Sterling Heights Utica Ford), who played in eight games in 2022 before sitting out last season, got the start.

Heide struggled out of the gate, throwing a pick-6 on the first drive and a 3-and-out on the second drive. The Bulldogs turned to Northwood graduate transfer Jake Kelbert (Livonia Franklin) and flourished as he completed 16-of-26 passes for 182 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns.

"We've made a commitment to play both guys early," Palka said. "We're going to continue to do that because we owe it to them. They all battled and did a great job in camp. It wasn't like we pulled Noah, it was Jake's turn, and we told the guys if you get a hot hand we're going to roll with them the rest of the game."

Heide did return to the game late and threw a 7-yard touchdown to regain some confidence going into Week 2.

"That was awesome," Palka said. "Noah is very much apart of our ones and to get the ball out on time with a tough throw for that touchdown was big. Those two guys get along great. They're all in it together, as is our team."

Surrounding the quarterbacks were a number of different athletes stepping up. Junior transfer from Ann Arbor Concordia Shondel Hardnett (Martin Luther King) ran for 121 yards and a touchdown. Another junior transfer from Lawrence Tech, Jalen Wallace (Belleville), hauled in eight receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Chelsea freshman Tyson Hill ran for 59 yards and a touchdown while Holland Christian freshman Ethan Abberger rushed for 15 yards and a score. Saline freshman Caid Fox caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, while another junior transfer from Siena Heights, Ryan Brumley (Powers Catholic) caught three passes for 39 yards and sophomore Khris Crumley (Southeastern) caught five for 28 yards.

"Two of the first three touchdowns were freshmen," Palka said.

While it took the offense a few series to get going, the defense was tough all game long.

Despite the early 20-0 lead, it wasn't on the defense, as the offense threw the pick-6, the special teams allowed a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and then fumbled a kickoff to setup a touchdown pass.

The Bulldogs allowed only 29 yards rushing and 138 yards through the air with an interception.

"They provided us a cushion today," Palka said. "It was apparent Elmhurst was going to struggle to move the ball. That afforded a young offense with new players to get some legs underneath it. I'm fired up what our defense can do this year."

Temperance Bedford freshman Trey Brueggemann led the team in tackles with seven. Along with Brueggemann at linebacker, defensive backs, Ann Arbor Huron freshman Elijah Hayward and Dundee freshman Ethan Layton, both start.

"Three of the four are freshmen in the back end of the secondary," Palka said. "They are making plays and they're growing. Unfortunately, they are going to have to grow on the job. We're going to keep growing and keep getting better."

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they aren't facing the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation before getting into MIAA play.

Elmhurst went 2-8 a season ago with one of the wins being against Adrian. The Bulldogs remain home as they kickoff at 7 p.m. Saturday against NAIA's Madonna at Docking Stadium, which hasn't won an actual game in program history. The Crusaders have one win since starting in 2020 and it was by forfeit.

The final week of the non-conference is a road test at Franklin, which went 4-6 last season and opened the season with a 45-7 loss to Ohio Northern.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian College football shows growth in Week 1 win