JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College football team opened up its 2019 season with an impressive 22-7 victory over Rhodes College at England Stadium on Saturday night. The Blueboys held the Lynx to just 127 yards of total offense and turned turnovers and special teams miscues from the visitors into points all night.
Both teams were feeling their way into the season in the first quarter and it ended scoreless, though the field-position battle was beginning to go Illinois College's way and Rhodes was forced into a punt from its own 2-yard line late in the quarter. IC's first scoring drive began as the quarter was coming to a close, with the Blueboys taking over on the Rhodes 35-yard line and moving to the 16 before a 33-yard
Jeff Nicolas field goal made it 3-0.
A big return on the ensuing kickoff gave Rhodes a chance to tie or take the lead but its drive went nowhere and a 42-yard field goal from Wiley Henshaw caromed off the right upright to keep the Lynx off the scoreboard.
The first big momentum swing of the game came later in the second quarter when
Ju'Qui Womack burst off the edge and blocked the punt of Fred Jackson before scooping it up himself and scoring to make it 9-0. The extra point was missed, but Womack's play ensured the Blueboys would go to the half with the lead despite a late score from Rhodes on a 25-yard pass from Jace Franklin to Andrew Herring.
Womack's impact on the game wasn't done. In the third quarter, both offenses were still struggling to gain any traction when Womack again blocked a punt off the foot of Jackson. Reading the bounce and picking the ball up for a second time, Womack had paydirt ahead of him until Jackson was able to make a shoestring tackle at the Rhodes 13-yard line.
Drew Chance didn't waste any time cashing in on Womack's big play, rolling out of the pocket and racing in from 13 yards on the first play from scrimmage, increasing Illinois College's lead to 16-7.
On the next Rhodes possession, the Lynx once again found themselves in a fourth-and-long. Fearing what the IC special teams unit might do this time around, Rhodes went for it and
Kenny Banks intercepted a long downfield pass. Taking possession on his own 38, Banks returned the ball to the Rhodes 44-yard line. Five plays later, the Blueboys were in the end zone again on a 16-yard run from
Trevor Smalls to take a 22-7 lead in the contest.
Though more than 19 minutes remained in the game at that point, Rhodes would barely trouble Illinois College from there on out. The best chance at scoring for the Lynx came with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. Rhodes had a first down at the IC 30-yard line when a pass downfield was intercepted by
Carter Hilley. The junior safety proceeded to return the pick 57 yards before being brought down at the Rhodes' 33.
Illinois College ended the game with a 304-127 edge in total yards over Rhodes.
Drew Chance was 18-of-33 for 164 yards through the air. Smalls ended up with 12 carries for 59 yards while
Trevor Nott had 16 carries for 46 yards.
Bryce McKinney hauled in six passes for 41 yards and
Hunter Toeben ended with the most receiving yards in the game, catching three passes for 58 yards.
An active IC defense ended with 14 tackles for a loss in the game, including five sacks.
Mike Koos led the Blueboys with 10 tackles on the night.
Jaylin Swan had eight tackles with a team-high 4.5 for a loss.
Bobby Carr II was a nightmare in the secondary for Rhodes' quarterbacks, breaking up three passes.
Illinois College makes its first road trip of the season next week, heading to Lincoln, Neb. to face Nebraska Wesleyan University. Kick-off is at 1 p.m.
