The Lake Forest College football team hosted and defeated defending Midwest Conference Champion Illinois College 42-35 on Saturday.

Graduate student A.J. Jackson amassed 194 all-purpose yards and rushed for five touchdowns in the contest. His 1-yard run with eight minutes to play in the first quarter gave the home team a 13-7 lead and he scored again from seven yards out with two minutes left in the second to make it a 21-20 game in favor of the Blueboys at halftime.

The next score of the contest was a 10-yard run by Jackson with a minute-and-a-half to play in the third quarter and, after Illinois College pulled back ahead, Jackson forced his way into the end zone on another 1-yard plunge to put the Foresters on top 35-28 with 2:15 to play. The Lake Forest defense recovered a fumble on the next play from scrimmage and Jackson sprinted 17 yards around the right end for touchdown number five with 1:57 on the clock.

Illinois College scored the final touchdown of the game with 30 seconds left but the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Forester senior wide receiver Seth Jelovic to clinch the victory.

Jackson finished the game with a dozen carries for 55 yards, two catches for 66 yards, 36 yards on two kickoff returns, and two punt returns for 37 yards.

Making his first career start, Forester sophomore quarterback Michael Kasemervisz completed 14 of 25 passed for 271 yards, did not turn the ball over, and was sacked just once.

Forester Langston Metoyer had a team-high 71 receiving yards while fellow senior wide receiver Tee Land matched Jackson's 66. Senior tight end Bode Rubright added 35 yards on a pair of receptions.

Lake Forest possessed the ball for more than 38 minutes in the contest.

The Forester defense was led by sophomore linebackers Blake Ware and Jackson Sander with six tackles apiece and sophomore defensive end Preston Mosher with two tackles for loss.. Fumbles were forced by junior safety Thomas DeChesaro and a pair of defensive linemen, graduate student Jaylen Johnson and sophomore Victor Aguirre, and junior defensive end Mark Rice recovered one.

Freshman defensive back Brandon Henderson accounted for the only interception of the day, his second in as many games this season.

The Lake Forest special teams also factored into the decision. Senior Josiah Kidd scored the first touchdown of the game after picking up a punt that had struck the back of a Blueboy behind the line of scrimmage. He took it 21 yards to the end zone to give the Foresters the early lead. Sophomore punter Amar Zucancic also performed well in the kicking game, averaging 36.7 yards on six punts and not allowing the Blueboys to start any of their drives after Forester touchdowns beyond the 26-yardline.

It was the first conference game of the season for both teams and featured the league's last three representatives in the NCAA Playoffs. Lake Forest earned that status in 2021 and 2022 and Illinois College last season.

The Foresters will play on the road for the first time in 2024 when they take on Cornell College next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.