JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College football team made its final game at England Stadium in 2018 one to remember for the outgoing 16 seniors and five operations members who celebrated Senior Day on Saturday. The Blueboys lit up Grinnell College in the opening two quarters, taking a 32-0 lead, and then cruised down the stretch to claim a 55-14 win over the Pioneers. With the victory, Illinois College improves to 3-5 (2-2 Midwest Conference South Division).
A 19-point first quarter set the tone right away. After the Blueboys stopped an encouraging Grinnell opening drive with a fourth-down sack from
Logan West, Illinois College wasted no time in getting on the board. On IC's first offensive play from scrimmage,
Drew Chance connected with
Glen Gibbons Jr. on a 55-yard touchdown to make it 6-0.
The Pioneers again drove downfield on their second possession, but the IC defense held a second time. After a blocked field goal attempt by
Zack DeWitt, Grinnell regained possession at its own nine-yard line. West again made a nice play in the backfield to drop the Pioneers back four yards. On a third-and-long from the shadow of its own end zone, Grinnell attempted a middle screen, but
Alex Renehan stuck out a mitt and was able to control the deflection, hauling in the pass as he crossed the goal line to up Illinois College's lead to 13-0.
A bad snap on a Grinnell punt attempt gave IC the ball one last time before the quarter ended. On a third-and-goal, Chance found
Allen Smith for the six-yard touchdown pass. Though the two-point conversion failed, the Blueboys went on top, 19-0, at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all about
Jason Barbour. Midway through the second quarter, Illinois College took over possession on the Grinnell 41-yard line and Barbour carried on five straight plays. The big gain on the drive took IC from the 28-yard line down to the 3, and Barbour punched it in on the next play to make it 26-0. Following a
Bobby Carr II interception, the Blueboys scored one last time before intermission.
Will Rankin made a long catch downfield to get the chains moving and Gibbons Jr. caught four passes from Chance to move the ball inside the Grinnell 10. With less than a minute to go until halftime, Barbour scored from six yards out to make it 32-0 at the break.
The lead increased for Illinois College early in the third quarter when DeWitt nailed a 36-yard field goal, making it 35-0. Carr II had another interception and
Matt Graef recovered a fumble as the quarter moved along. Off of the
Gerik Garlington forced fumble and Graef recovery, Chance and Gibbons Jr. found each other again from 13 yards out to make it 42-0.
Grinnell finally got on the board late in the quarter, though that was immediately answered by a 12-play, 70-yard drive from Illinois College that ended with Barbour bulling his way across the goal line from nine yards out. The next Pioneer possession ended in another turnover as
Jaylin Swan stripped Daniel Carter and
Stuart Wolf picked up the ball off the deck and returned it into the Grinnell red zone.
Deavon Puck proceeded to throw a back-shoulder pass to
Bryce McKinney from five yards out for Illinois College's final touchdown of the game.
Chance had a very efficient game at quarterback, ending 23-of-30 for 298 yards and three touchdowns. Barbour broke the 100-yard barrier for the third time in his career with 24 carries for 121 yards and three scores. Gibbons Jr. torched the Grinnell secondary for 11 catches and 128 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Graef posted a team-high seven tackles along with his fumble recovery. Swan had six tackles, including 2.5 sacks and a total of 3.5 tackles for a loss. West ended with four tackles, including 1.5 sacks.
Illinois College heads out on the road for its final two games of 2018. First up is a Nov. 3 matchup at Lake Forest College (5-3, 3-1 MWC South) with kick-off scheduled for 1 p.m. IC's placement in the South Division, which won't be determined until next week's results are in, will match the Blueboys up with the team from the North Division that ends up with the same divisional seed.
