Box Score
Michael Bates threw five touchdowns, including three to
Josh Gentile, as the Illinois College football team took a 42-13 win over visiting Grinnell College in its home opener Saturday at England Stadium in Jacksonville.
Bates threw for 424 yards on 26-of-46 accuracy for the Blueboys. Gentile hauled in a game-high eight receptions, good for 96 yards. He scored on touchdown passes of 16, 5 and 30 yards.
Cecil Brimmage tallied 89 yards rushing and 86 yards receiving for the Blueboys, and
Kurt Frischman recorded 3 1/2 sacks.
"I thought our kids played hard for the whole game. We just shot ourselves in the foot with penalties in the first half," Illinois College head coach
Garrett Campbell said. "Grinnell is a well-coached team and they presented some challenges for us. I'm really happy with the outcome, but we are only two games into a very long season."
Brimmage got things started for IC as he scored on a 69-yard catch-and-run on the Blueboys' first play of the day. Gentile made two of his touchdown receptions in the first half, but a 3-yard scoring run by Grinnell's Jacob Bernholtz and a pair of Graham Fisher field goals kept the visitors within striking distance, down only 21-13 at halftime.
The Blueboys erased any doubt in the second half, though, as
Kendall Gibson scored on a 2-yard run and
Cody Bly caught a 10-yard touchdown pass before Bates and Gentile connected on their third touchdown of the day.
Bates ran for 46 yards in the win.
Kevin Fuller caught five passes for 69 yards, while
Wes Graham had five catches for 49 yards.
Mitchel Wilson had two catches for 61 yards, including a 43-yard reception to set up Gibson's touchdown run.
Frischman led the IC defense with eight tackles. In addition to his 3 1/2 sacks, he totaled 5 1/2 tackles for loss, as well as two quarterback hurries.
Andy Mills and
Ryan Gardner made seven tackles each, while
Carter Cox,
Zack Hanlon and
Willie Barefield III had six apiece.
Adam Hickson,
Marvell White and
Billy Filla had one sack each, and Hanlon snagged the Blueboys' only interception of the day.
Kicker
Matt Newman was a perfect 6-for-6 in point-after-touchdown kicks on Saturday, running his streak to 66 consecutive successful PAT attempts, dating back to the 2012 season. His second PAT of the day came on a drop kick.
The Blueboys improved to 2-0 overall, and 1-0 in the Midwest Conference, with the win. They are on bye next Saturday, but return to action on September 28 at Ripon College.
