The Forester football team defeated visiting Lawrence University 20-16 on Saturday. Led by senior tailback Al Mitchell's 198 yards on the ground, Lake Forest out-rushed the Vikings 304-20.
Mitchell carried the ball 23 times and his 198 yards on the ground were a career-high and the seventh-highest single-game total in program history. Junior Alec Howe added 15 carries for 65 yards and the Foresters' 304 yards on the ground are their most since October of 2000.
Senior Austin Sobey led the Lake Forest receivers with six receptions for 59 yards.
Forester senior safety Aidan Price made a team-high 10 tackles for the second week in a row. Half of junior linebacker Bryce Jones' eight stops occurred behind the line of scrimmage, including a pair of sacks. He also forced a fumble. Fellow junior linebackers Jake Julius and John Dillon chipped in with two sacks and three tackles for loss, respectively. The Lake Forest defense finished the afternoon with eight sacks and 15 tackles for loss, totals they had not recorded in more than seven years.
The home team took the early lead on its second play from scrimmage when Mitchell broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown run. The extra point attempt failed and the Foresters led 6-0.
Jones forced a fumble that was recovered by Dillon to end the Vikings' next drive deep in Forester territory. Lawrence was forced to punt on its next possession but finally got on the scoreboard on a 28-yard field goal with 8:54 to play in the second quarter.
The next Forester drive reached Lawrence territory before stalling. Freshman Jon Gurchak's 37-yard punt was fair caught at the 11-yardline and, two plays later, Dillon sacked the Vikings' quarterback in the end zone for a safety, making the score 8-3.
Lake Forest then traveled 56 yards in seven plays and freshman tailback Joey Valdivia scored his first career touchdown on an 18-yard run. Another unsuccessful extra point left the home team with a 14-3 lead.
Forester junior cornerback Ed Dobernig forced and recovered a fumble to stop the Vikings' next drive. Lawrence reached the Lake Forest nine on its next possession before a pair of sacks sent the visitors back to the 23-yardline and forced the first half clock to expire.
There were five punts and two Forester turnovers in a scoreless third quarter.
Lawrence reached the end zone just 43 seconds into the fourth quarter and kicked the extra point to make the score 14-10.
After the teams traded punts, the Foresters embarked on a 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard scoring plunge by Howe with 4:55 remaining in the contest. Lake Forest ran the ball nine times for 50 yards on the drive, which took nearly eight minutes off the clock.
The Vikings drove for a final score with just 15 seconds left but the Foresters recovered the onside kick to secure the victory.
Lake Forest is now 1-1 overall this season and 1-0 in Midwest Conference play. Lawrence fell to 0-2, both overall and in the league.
The Foresters will continue conference play at Grinnell College next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
