By: Illinois College racked up 653 yards of total offense and forced four Grinnell turnovers in an easy 50-14 Homecoming victory.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The weather might have put a slight damper on the Homecoming festivities, but the Illinois College football team made sure that didn't extend to the England Stadium turf. After going a touchdown behind, IC scored 43 unanswered points and rolled to a 50-14 win over Grinnell College on Saturday afternoon. The Blueboys improved to 3-2 (2-1 Midwest Conference) while the Pioneers dropped to 0-5 (0-3 MWC).
After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Grinnell surprised the home crowd with an efficient 12-play, 82-yard drive that resulted in a 15-yard Tony Bergida touchdown run. The Pioneers used a blend of inside rushes and passes to the flat to move the ball down the field, but those options would dry up the rest of the way.
Down a score, the Blueboys were forced into a three-and-out on their opening drive, but the defense picked up the slack on the next Grinnell possession. Bergida was looking for a short pass across the middle when
Ryan Torrance stepped in front, picked him off and rumbled 35 yards for the touchdown.
Zack DeWitt's extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 6:32 left in the first quarter.
The Pioneers were forced off the field in three plays on their next drive and Illinois College took over on its own 32. On a second-and-long,
Drew Chance hit
Logan Uyetake across the middle and the junior wideout sprinted down the sideline down to the Grinnell four-yard line.
Jason Barbour ran it in on the next play to give the Blueboys a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Blueboys began to chew up yardage in chunks on their next drive. The 10-play, 80-yard march ended with a 19-yard Barbour touchdown run for a 21-7 lead.
A huge
Carlos Lemus tackle on the next drive provided another defensive highlight for the Blueboys and IC got the ball back on its own 27. The Blueboys went 73 yards in two plays for another score as Chance hit
Austin Ellsworth for 22 yards and then
Andy Webb made a man miss and went 51 yards up the sideline to increase the lead to 28-7. Two drives before the end of the first half ended with DeWitt field goals to make it 34-7 at the break.
Early on in the third quarter, the Blueboys were forced back to their own six-yard line to start a drive. Barbour busted out for 32 yards on the first play from scrimmage and then added a 27-yard run after a penalty had given IC a 1st and 20. From inside Grinnell territory, Chance and Uyetake connected on a 40-yard touchdown pass and a 41-7 lead with less than five minutes elapsed in the second half.
Matt Graef intercepted Bergida on the next Grinnell possession, though the ensuing Illinois College drive fizzled out deep in Pioneer territory. Following a
Nick Montrey punt later in the third quarter that put Grinnell on its own six-yard line,
Austin Buchanan flew around the edge to sack Bergida for a safety that gave IC a 43-7 lead going into the final quarter of play.
Grinnell finally got back on the board with a 12-play drive early in the fourth quarter that ended with a one-yard Carson Dunn touchdown run to make it 43-14. Illinois College tacked on one final touchdown in the final three minutes of play after Alberto Vasquez forced a fumble and
T.J. Lawal recovered it at the Grinnell 30. Seven plays later,
Christian Peacock scored on his sixth rush of the drive from one yard out to reach the half-century mark and give the Blueboys a 50-14 lead.
Chance ended the game 24-of-29 for 387 yards with two scores. Barbour was the leading rusher in the game with 142 yards on 15 carries.
Bo Davis added 68 yards on nine carries. Through the air, Ellsworth snared eight passes for 128 yards, while Uyetake had seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Webb added three catches for 83 yards and a score.
Torrance ended with eight tackles in the game (two solo), while Graef had seven (three solo). Buchanan and Vasquez each ended with one-and-a-half sacks in the game, while
Josh Brooks added another and
Will Rankin had one sack and one interception.
Illinois College will hit the road for its next two games. Next week, the Blueboys venture out to Mount Vernon, Iowa to meet Cornell College on Oct. 8 with kick-off set for 1 p.m.
