NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – Kalamazoo scored early and often in the 55-0 victory at Manchester University Saturday afternoon.

The Hornets are now 3-0 on the year after picking up their first road victory of the season.

After forcing a three-and-out to start the game, Josh Nichols hit Lucas Hanifan for a 32-yard gain on first-and-20, moving the ball to the home 30-yard line. On second-and-eight from the 18-yard line, Nichols found Nate Clark for an 18-yard score for a 6-0 lead.

The Hornets forced a punt after a sack on third-and-10. Kalamazoo started the drive on the 25-yard line and promptly went to work. Nichols scampered for a 12-yard gain before finding Sheldon Riley for a 13-yard pass to the 50-yard line. Moments later, Nichols found Nate Clark for a 26-yard touchdown strike and the extra point made it 13-0.

In the second quarter, Brandon Speed stepped in front of a pass for the interception at the 9:30 mark. Kalamazoo quickly embarked on an eight-play, 53-yard scoring drive. The biggest play on the drive came via a pass from Dawson Skupin to Hayden Johnston for 26 yards, moving the ball to the seven-yard line. Two plays later, Riley busted his way into the end-zone and the extra point from Emory Roberts pushed the advantage to 20-0 with 6:30 to play in the half.

In the third stanza, Nolan Jannenga recovered a fumble on Manchester's three-yard line. On second-and-goal, Riley garnered a one-yard rush for the score and the extra point pushed the margin to 27-0 at the 7:49 mark.

After forcing a punt on fourth-and-10, the Hornets marched 42 yards in seven plays. On the one-yard line, Skupin sauntered in for a 34-0 lead. The highlight of the drive came when Skupin hit Jonah Spates for a 22-yard gain to the one-yard line.

Kalamazoo took over just before the end of the third quarter and used an 18-play drive to go 57 yards. The drive took 5:28 off the clock and it ended when Hayden Johnston hauled in a pass from Skupin for the five-yard touchdown.

Special teams got into the scoring act. After a sack from Jannenga and a quarterback hurry from Sutton Tutas made it fourth-and-20, Hanifan corralled the punt and went 55 yards for the touchdown. An Eddie Langton extra point extended the advantage to 48-0 with 8:22 to play.

The Hornets forced a fumble, which was recovered by Lance Wolford. After Zach Metz hit Rocco Breslin for seven yards, Liam Metheringham found the end-zone. Isaac Ahn's extra point extended the score to 55-0.

For the game, Nichols completed 13-of-20 for 196 yards and two scores. Skupin completed nine passes for 99 yards and a score.

Nate Clark had five receptions for 69 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Johnston had 56 yards on three catches and a score. Hanifan also had three catches for 53 yards. Jacques James hauled in two passes for 42 yards while Spates caught three passes for 26 yards.

On the ground, Skupin had six carries for 31 yards and a touchdown. Riley had a team-high 11 rushes for 26 yards and two scores. Metheringham also had a rushing touchdown. Jannenga led the defense with seven tackles, including two for a loss of 16 yards. Raymond Cargill tallied six tackles, including two for loss. Adam Stapleton and Bryce Balabuch also had two tackles for loss each.

Speed had an interception and returned it 27 yards.

The shutout was Kalamazoo's first since a 44-0 win at Finlandia in 2019. Kalamazoo's 55 points were the most since scoring 56 at Finlandia (56-7) in 2018.

The Hornets return home Saturday, Sept. 28, for the MIAA opener against Calvin at Angell Field. Kick-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. The game will be Calvin's first MIAA football game, and Kalamazoo College's first night game at Angell Field since 1960. Live stats and video will be available hornets.kzoo.edu.