Box Score
The Illinois College football team scored touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions and cruised to a 49-13 win at Hanover College Saturday afternoon in Hanover, Indiana.
Michael Bates threw for 133 yards and four touchdowns, while also running for another score, in the win.
Cecil Brimmage ran for 146 yards and two scores, and
Kevin Fuller hauled in five receptions for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
"I was pleased with our fast start. We were able to get a lot of younger kids valuable playing time," said Illinois College head football coach
Garrett Campbell. "But with that said, we still made a number of first-game mistakes and we need to clean those up if we expect to compete for a conference title."
The Blueboys got on the board first when Bates scored on a 5-yard run less than five minutes into the game. Brimmage scored the next two touchdowns on runs of 36 and 68 yards, respectively, before Bates threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter. Bates first found Fuller on a 20-yard strike, then
Cody Bly on a 16-yard toss before hooking up with
Wes Graham on a 26-yard touchdown pass.
The Blueboys took a 42-6 lead into halftime. Their lone touchdown of the second half came when Bates found Fuller on a 7-yard touchdown pass just over two minutes into the third quarter.
The Blueboys racked up 465 yards of total offense, including 385 in the first half. The Blueboy defense limited Hanover to 346 yards.
Seven different players carried the ball for the Blueboys.
Mike Tonry ran for 40 yards, while
Josh Gentile and
Kendall Gibson chipped in 23 and 20, respectively. Gentile had four catches for 34 yards and completed a 57-yard pass to Graham, who was IC's leading receiver with 91 yards.
Chris Evans and
Ryan Jefferson made five tackles apiece for the Illinois College defense.
Kurt Frischman made four tackles, including 3 1/2 behind the line of scrimmage.
Dinari Ellis and
Dylan Ringhausen made four tackles each, and Ellis had two passes broken up.
Zack Hanlon made an interception for the Blueboys, returning it 35 yards to set up the team's final touchdown of the first half.
Matt Newman was a perfect 7-for-7 on PAT kicks, running his streak to 60 straight successful PATs, dating back to the start of the 2012 season.
The Blueboys return to Jacksonville for their home opener next Saturday against Midwest Conference foe Grinnell College. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
