JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College football team rallied out of a 20-0 deficit entering the fourth quarter to pull within one possession and had the ball with two minutes remaining before the University of Chicago defense held to give the Maroons the win on Saturday afternoon. With the 20-14 victory, the Maroons shore up second play in the Midwest Conference South Division while the Blueboys settle for third. Each team enters the regular-season finale next weekend with a record of 5-3.
A slow start offensively and a huge disadvantage in field position ultimately doomed Illinois College. The Blueboys were constantly pinned back when taking possession in the first half and struggles out of the punting game consistently gave Chicago fantastic field position. If not for a strong defensive effort from IC, the game actually could have been much worse than 20-0 at the break.
Nick D'Ambrose gave Chicago the lead midway through the first quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run. After missing an earlier 32-yard attempt, Daniel Ducic extended the Maroons' lead to 10-0 with a 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter after Chicago took possession of the ball on the IC 13-yard line.
Before the half came to a close, the Maroons scored again on a 10-yard reception by Dante Nepa. On the final play of the half, Ducic connected from 19 yards out to make it 20-0 at the halfway point.
The third quarter moved quickly but was much of the same for the Illinois College offense. Entering the final quarter down three scores, the team suddenly flickered to life. Starting a drive with 13 minutes remaining on their own 12-yard line, the Blueboys drove all the way downfield in 12 plays, capped by a 16-yard completion from
Drew Chance to
Zach Thompson for the first points of the day. IC then surprised Chicago with an on-side kick that was recovered by
Beau Barbour to set the Blueboys up at midfield. This time, Illinois College went 53 yards in 11 plays with Chance connecting with
Trevor Smalls for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 5:39 left in the game.
Chicago took back over on its own 35 and moved the ball across midfield and closed in on the Illinois College red zone. Looking for a first down to essentially clinch victory, the Maroons went for it on a fourth down and were stuffed by the IC defense. That gave the Blueboys possession with just over two minutes to play.
In search of a miraculous comeback victory, the Blueboys' momentum was snuffed out by the Chicago defense. Following an incompletion on first down, Chance completed a pair of short passes to Smalls to bring up a fourth down. With his pocket collapsing, Chance tried to scramble out of pressure but was brought down for a sack that more or less ended the game.
Chicago racked up 246 yards on the ground, including 148 from Mike Martinson on 30 carries. IC managed only 90 yards as a team on the ground, but Chance was able to pick up 160 yards through the air. Smalls was his top target with 11 catches for 58 yards.
Carter Hilley led IC's defense with 14 tackles (eight solo).
Eric Hasquin,
Jaylin Swan and
Nick Wolf all had sacks in the game for the Blueboys.
Next Saturday, Illinois College will host Ripon College for the second time this season. The Blueboys and Red Hawks each finished third in their respective divisions of the MWC. Kick-off is slated for 12 p.m. at England Stadium.
