The Illinois College football team rallied late before eventually falling in the first playoff game in school history on Saturday in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The Blueboys were topped by Wabash College 38-20.
Michael Bates threw a pair of touchdown passes, to
Adam Fricke and
Brock Thompson, and
Cecil Brimmage added a touchdown run, but the Little Giants scored 31 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to build a sizeable advantage.
"I'm extremely proud of this group of young men. We fought for a full 60 minutes," said Illinois College Head Coach
Garrett Campbell. "We learned from last year's experiences to get to this point and I have no doubt we'll learn from this experience to take our program to yet an even higher level.
"We will continue to build a program where playoff games become the norm, not the exception."
Illinois College answered an early Wabash score with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Bates to Fricke, but Wabash pulled away with 31 straight points. Brimmage found the end zone on a 3-yard scoring run late in the game. Illinois College recovered an onside kick and Bates found Thompson on 19-yard TD strike with just under five minutes to go.
Bates completed 20-of-34 passes for 193 yards. Brimmage ran for 39 yards. Thompson hauled in a team-high six passes for 57 yards.
Michael Ray led the IC defense with 13 tackles, including a quarterback sack.
Jake DeFauw had 13 tackles.
Carter Cox added 11 more.
The loss brought an end to a record-setting season for the Blueboys. Illinois College won a school-record nine games and made the school's first-ever appearance in the Division III football tournament.
