Behind five interceptions on defense and four touchdown passes from
Ethan Springer to
Dom Esposito, the Forester football team rolled 57-3 over Luther College at home on Saturday.
Esposito, who entered the game leading the nation in receiving yards and touchdowns, had 11 catches for 249 yards and scored on receptions of 55 and 19 yards in the second quarter and 51 and 5 in the third. He has already tied the single-season school record for touchdown receptions with 16 and his 1,086 yards on the year ranks second in team annals with at least three games yet to play.
Springer completed 24 of 30 passes for 408 yards and his four touchdown passes raised his season total to 30, which is just one shy of the program record. He has thrown for at least four scores in all seven games this fall.
The Foresters out-gained the Norse 623-252 and matched the seventh-highest single-game yardage total in team history.
Brayden Long was Lake Forest's leading rusher with 83 yards on eight carries and he reached the end zone on a 10-yard run to finish off the game's first drive and on a 3-yard rush early in the third quarter.
Taylen Goodwin accounted for the offense's other touchdown on a 3-yard run of his own in the third quarter.
The team's final touchdown came on a 49-yard interception return by
Quentin Robinson on the second play of the fourth quarter. It was the Foresters' fifth interception of the afternoon, a total they had yet to achieve this century.
Evan Vernon recorded two of them and raised his season total to four.
Kaden Kern picked off his first pass of the year and
CJ King the first of his career. Kern also led Lake Forest in tackles with seven while Vernon was next with six.
The Foresters led 6-3 after the first quarter and 22-3 at halftime. Both of the second quarter touchdowns were followed by two-point conversions with
Robert Knorr throwing a pass to
Mason Whitaker for the first and running in the second himself. The home team then blew the game open with 28 in the third quarter and added seven in the fourth. The Foresters entered the day leading the nation with 63.3 points per game and their current seven-game total of 437 is already the most in school history.
The victory was Lake Forest's 14th in a row dating back to last season, which surpassed the program record of 13 set in the spring and fall of 2021. The team improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in Midwest Conference play this year while Luther fell to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to Beloit College next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
