Box Score
Matt Newman's overtime field goal attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown by Cornell College's Myron Seabrook, sending the Blueboys to their first loss of the season on Saturday in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Cornell College beat Illinois College by a 35-29 score in overtime.
Illinois College rallied to force overtime as
Cecil Brimmage scored his third rushing touchdown of the day with 3:43 remaining in regulation. A successful two-point conversion pass from
Michael Bates to
Josh Gentile tied things up at 29-29.
The Blueboys got the ball first in overtime and had driven to the Cornell 4-yard line before Newman attempted a 21-yard field goal. Cornell's Jeffrey Bollnow blocked the kick before Seabrook scooped it up at the 10-yard line and returned in 90 yards for the decisive score.
"It was obviously a heart-breaking loss, but I was proud of how our kids battled throughout the game," said Illinois College head football coach
Garrett Campbell. "In the end, turnovers hurt us, but this was a physical game, and again, I'm proud of how our kids battled."
Brimmage paced IC's offense, which was more successful on the ground than through the air. Brimmage ran for 214 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Quarterback
Michael Bates was 8-for-23 passing for 117 yards and two touchdowns, but added 132 yards rushing and a score.
Brimmage got the Blueboys on the board first with a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter. Cornell came right back with a 47-yard touchdown run by Preston Ritchie with 1:28 remaining in the quarter, but Bates scored on a 5-yard run with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
Cornell scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, on runs by Ethan Thompson (35 yards) and Juan Flores (3 yards), to take a 20-14 lead into halftime.
Brimmage scored on a 4-yard run just over a minute into the second half to give the Blueboys their final lead of the game at 21-20. Flores threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Justin Cox to put the hosts back ahead, and a 20-yard field goal by Kaleb Whiting gave Cornell an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter, before Brimmage's third touchdown of the day and a successful two-point conversion forced overtime.
IC outgained Cornell in total yards, 480-448, but the Blueboys committed four turnovers, while the Rams committed only one.
Wes Graham was Illinois College's leading receiver with two catches for 70 yards.
Zack Hanlon led the IC defense with 12 tackles.
The Blueboys, who entered the game ranked No. 22 in the D3football.com Top 25 and No. 24 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25, fell to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in Midwest Conference play with the loss.
The Blueboys play their final regular season game next Saturday at Carroll University. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
