JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College football team got back to its winning ways at England Stadium on Saturday afternoon, rallying out of a 12-0 deficit to defeat Ripon College, 28-25. The Red Hawks were intercepted twice and put the ball on the turf six times, with three of those recovered by the Blueboys. Illinois College moves to 2-1 on the season.
The game didn't get off to a good start for Illinois College as a bad snap on a punt out of the end zone resulted in a safety. Ripon would then embark on a long drive that ended with a one-yard plunge for a touchdown to make it 9-0. The lead grew to 12-0 early on in the second quarter on a 46-yard field goal from Kyle Jobke.
Helped along by a pair of Ripon penalties, Illinois College came right back with its first score of the day, a 20-yard strike from
Drew Chance to
Bryce McKinney. On the next Blueboy possession, the team was on the march again. Chance started things off with a 22-yard scramble and he hit
Allen Smith with a fastball down to the 2-yard line. Two plays later,
Trevor Smalls struck paydirt to make it 13-12. On the final play of the first half, Jobke connected on a 36-yard field goal to give the Red Hawks a 15-13 lead at the break.
Momentum shifted IC's way in the middle of the third quarter when
Jaylin Swan came off an edge and forced a fumble on a sack of Ripon quarterback Cormac Madigan.
Dylon Ross scooped the fumble and rumbled in from 30 yards to give the Blueboys the lead. IC would tack on the two-point conversion for a 21-15 edge. With seconds left on the third-quarter clock, Jobke hit once again, this time from 30 yards out to cut IC's lead in half entering the final frame.
Illinois College couldn't score on its opening drive of the fourth, but after a punt back to the Red Hawks, Ripon held possession for all of one play. A fumble on the hand-off resulted in a recovery by
Mike Koos, setting the Blueboys up with the ball at the Ripon 31. A pair of first downs put the ball at the one-yard line and Smalls against found enough of a gap to punch it in, this time with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Though Ripon would score on a quarterback sneak from Madigan with under two minutes left, Illinois College's
Dan Bickert recovered the onside kick and
Zach Thompson picked up a vital first down to help run the clock down to zero.
Chance ended his day with 98 yards passing and 52 yards rushing. Smalls was the leading rusher in the game for the Blueboys, picking up 72 yards on 16 carries.
Koos led the Illinois College defense with 12 tackles (seven solo), along with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Swan had six tackles, three of which were for a loss including two sacks and two forced fumbles.
Carter Hilley and
Bobby Carr II each added an interception.
The Blueboys go on the road next weekend for their final game before entering Midwest Conference South Division play, taking on Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. at 1 p.m.
