The Lake Forest College football team was defeated 12-7 at home
by Knox College on Saturday (October 31). The Foresters fell to 2-7
overall this season and 2-6 in Midwest Conference play. The Prarie
Fire are now 1-8 overall and 1-7 in the league.
Senior linebacker Chad Zimborski (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North)
led a Forester defense that allowed just 235 yards and three points
in the contest. He finished with 15 tackles on the day, surpassing
300 in his career and moving into fifth place in team history with
307 career tackles. Junior Tanner Compton (Excello, Mo./Macon) had
14 tackles, including a sack and another stop behind the line of
scrimmage, and forced a fumble. Senior defenseive lineman Jaron Eanes (Cleveland, Ohio/Lake Forest Academy) also reached double
figures in tackles with 10.
Junior tailback Brock Stenberg (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven)
averaged 5.4 yards per carry and rushed for 81 of Lake Forest's 181
total yards. The home team's only score came on a 17-yard pass from
junior Geoff Sobey (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) to senior wide
receiver Dan Carter (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator). Carter
had two catches for 51 yards and trails the program's single-season
records by five catches, 161 yards, and one touchdown
reception.
Knox took advantage of five interceptions on the day. The first
ended the game's opening possession at the Prairie Fire 3-yardline
and the visitors traveled 85 yards in 16 plays, setting up a
30-yard field goal for the only points of the first period.
Three defensive plays highlighted the second quarter. The first was
an amazing one-handed interception by Forester senior Hamid Khan
(Chicago, Ill./Loyola) just in front of the goal line. He returned
it 39 yards to the 40. After a Forester interception and a Knox
punt that pinned the home team back at its own 8-yardline, Sobey
was sacked in the end zone for a safety, making the score 5-0. The
Prairie Fire were forced to punt again and, for the third time in
the period, their punter pinned the Foresters deep, this time at
the 11. A Knox lineman blocked a Lake Forest pass on the second
play from scrimmage, caught it at the 7-yardline, and trotted into
the end zone for a touchdown.
The Foresters had three of the four first downs in a scoreless
third quarter.
Lake Forest finally got on the scoreboard on an 11-play, 80-yard
drive and Carter's touchdown reception with 6:42 to play. However,
12 consecutive running plays and three third-down conversions by
Knox ran out the clock.
For head coach Jim Catanzaro, "it was a disappointing loss. I had
hoped to send our 14 seniors out with a win in their final home
game. I hope we can deliver a victory in their last collegiate
football game next week at Carroll."
The Foresters will close out the season at Carroll University next
Saturday (November 7). The kickoff, which was originally scheduled
for 1:00 p.m., will now be at noon. A live video webcast of the
contest will be available at www.pennatlantic.com.
