The Forester football team prevailed 14-7 at Knox College on Saturday. Sophomore safety Pat Clark picked off a pair of passes to help the Forester defense hold its third opponent of the year to less than 10 points.
Clark returned his first interception of the day 12 yards to the Knox 3-yardline, setting up a touchdown that put the Foresters ahead 14-0 in the third quarter. He also caught a Knox pass to clinch the victory with 1:14 to play in the contest.
Senior quarterback Mike Lewis completed a pair of touchdown passes without an interception and passed for 155 yards on the day. Freshman running back Alex Pasiewicz scored his first career touchdown on a 37-yard reception and senior tight end Greg Alonzo hauled in a 4-yard pass from Lewis for the visitors' second score. Freshman tailback Charlie Quinn ran for a game-high 89 yards on 16 carries.
Junior linebacker John Preston led the Lake Forest defense with 10 tackles and forced a fumble. Senior linebacker Jordan Cruz made nine tackles and also forced a fumble while fellow senior linebacker Bryce Jones made six stops and caused a pair of Knox fumbles. Half of senior defensive lineman Michael Garetto-Balmer's six tackles occurred behind the line of scrimmage and the Foresters had nine tackles for loss on the afternoon. Lake Forest won the turnover battle 4-1, thanks to Clark's interceptions, a fumble recovery by senior linebacker John Dillon, and an interception by junior safety Joey Kropp.
The game was scoreless for the first 25 minutes, although both teams missed a field goal. Lewis completed four passes for 64 yards on the Foresters' first scoring drive, including 37 to Pasiewicz for the touchdown.
The score remained 7-0 until Clark's interception and Alonzo's touchdown catch with 4:09 remaining in the third quarter.
Knox finally got on the scoreboard with 5:13 remaining in the game and the Prairie Fire had a chance to score again after recovering the ensuing on-side kick at the Forester 42-yardline. The Lake Forest defense held and the offense took two-and-a-half minutes off the clock before turning the ball over on downs at the Knox 36. Clark's game-clinching interception came on the next play.
The Foresters are now 4-0 overall this season and 3-0 in Midwest Conference play. They have allowed just 31 points in the four games combined.
Knox fell to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the league.
Lake Forest will welcome Carroll University in the Foresters' Homecoming game next Saturday. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
