By: Tied 14-14 at the half, Illinois College outscored Beloit 24-3 in the third and fourth quarters for a 38-17 win.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College football team overpowered Beloit College in the second half to earn a 38-17 Senior Day victory over the Buccaneers. The Blueboys and Bucs were tied at 14-14 at halftime, but IC scored 17 unanswered out of the break and coasted from there. Illinois College closes out the 2016 season at 6-4 (5-3 Midwest Conference), while Beloit ends at 3-7 (2-6 MWC).
Both teams drove downfield only to sputter on their opening possessions of the game, and IC got the ball back at its own 14-yard line with just under five minutes gone in the game. Forced into third-down situations on four occasions on the drive, the Blueboys converted all of them, including a 30-yard pass completion to
Andy Webb on 3rd and 21.
Greg Cross had the final honors on the 17-play, 86-yard drive, rushing in from two yards out to give Illinois College a 7-0 lead.
Beloit mounted a retaliation on the next drive, but
Steve Reyna intercepted Buccaneer quarterback Danny May on the final play of the first quarter to erase the scoring opportunity for the visitors.
Starting with the ball on their own two-yard line, the Blueboys were forced to punt and Beloit re-took possession on the Illinois College 32. Hard-running tailback Mason Dixon plowed in from three yards out a few plays later and Beloit knotted the score at 7-7.
The response from the Illinois College offense was immediate. Taking over on their own 25, the Blueboys went 75 yards in 13 plays, capped by a one-yard plunge from
Bo Davis to take a 14-7 edge on Beloit.
Illinois College tried to catch the Buccaneers off-guard with a short kick-off, but Beloit fair-caught the ball and took over on its own 45. The combination of Dixon and May in the running game for the Bucs moved them down the field quickly and Dixon broke tackles to score from 13 yards out, tying the game at 14-14 as the contest went to halftime.
Beloit had the opening drive of the second half, but
Dakotah Jones got a mitt up to deflect a May pass and the ball ended up in his arms, giving the Blueboy offense the ball to start the third quarter at the Beloit 29. IC made it into the red zone before its drive stalled, but
Zack DeWitt booted through a 27-yard field goal to put Illinois College on top by a score of 17-14.
On the next Beloit drive,
Josh Brooks and
Alex Renehan combined for a sack of back-up quarterback Ben Sposito on third down to force the Buccaneers off the field. Given a short field to work with, Illinois College methodically moved the ball into Beloit territory and ended the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from
Deavon Puck to
Logan Uyetake, making it 24-14.
Before the quarter was over, the Illinois College defense stuffed Dixon on a fourth-down run, giving the ball back to the Blueboys. Facing a third down in the Beloit red zone, Puck scrambled away from pressure and went 14 yards for a score to up the IC advantage to 31-14.
The Buccaneers needed scores quickly and they were able to drive on their next possession to the IC 29-yard line. Kam Sallee connected on a 46-yard field goal to keep Beloit alive, making it 31-17 with just over nine minutes remaining.
On the ensuing drive, Illinois College was forced into a three-and-out, and Beloit took back over on its own 26 and 7:50 left on the clock. The Buccaneers advanced the ball into the IC red zone after a 16-yard run by Dixon gave Beloit a 1st and 10 on the Blueboy 18. On the next play however,
Matt Graef came up with the third Illinois College interception of the day, picking off a May pass across the middle and going down on the IC 2-yard line.
On their final possession of the season, the Blueboys went 98 yards in 11 plays to seal the victory. Cross started it off with three runs for 17 yards to get IC out of the shadow of its own end zone. Puck then found Webb for 15 yards and
Jason Barbour followed with an 11-yard burst to get out to midfield. Following a Beloit timeout, Puck hit Webb for another 19-yard gain and Davis followed with a 28-yard run inside the Buccaneer five-yard line. Cross finished the drive off from four yards out and DeWitt's extra point made it 38-17 with less than a minute left.
Illinois College and Beloit ended dead-even on rushing yards with 169 apiece, but IC had a 335-203 advantage through the air. Puck ended the game 29-of-44 for 333 yards and a touchdown through the air. Barbour and Cross each closed out the game with 50 yards rushing, while Cross had two scores. Webb led the Blueboys with seven catches for 120 yards and
Kyle Obertino added five grabs for 95 yards. Uyetake had a team-high eight catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Nick Tadie led the defensive effort for IC with nine tackles (four solo). Reyna added seven tackles (five solo) and an interception, while Graef had six tackles (four solo) and an interception.
