The Lake Forest College football team was defeated 28-7 by visiting Carroll University Saturday on Homecoming. The Forester defense allowed just 229 yards and forced four turnovers, including senior linebacker Jake Julius' first career interception.
Junior safety Pat Clark and junior linebacker Austin Van Meter also picked off passes for Lake Forest. It was the second interception of the year for Clark and the sixth in his career. Van Meter's interception was also a career first. Forester senior defensive lineman Ramel Samuel recovered a fumble forced by freshman cornerback Mitch Coha early in the second quarter, giving the home team's defense four turnovers on the day.
Senior linebacker John Preston led the Lake Forest defense with 10 tackles and Clark added nine. Julius finished with a career-high seven stops.
Carroll took the early lead in the contest on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 4:37 to play in the first quarter.
Van Meter picked off a pass on the Pioneers' next possession and returned it 13 yards to the Carroll 14-yardline. Five straight carries set up fourth-and-goal from inside the one and a quarterback sneak by junior Anthoney Prestly reached the end zone. Prestly's third rushing touchdown in as many weeks and the extra point by junior Jon Gurchak tied the score with 12:05 to play in the second quarter.
Brief rain showers and a pair of stout defenses kept the score at 7-7 for the rest of the half.
The Pioneers took the lead on a 99-yard kickoff return on the first play of the second half. They added touchdowns with 6:21 to play in the third quarter and 9:47 remaining in the contest.
The Lake Forest offense had more first downs (15-14) than Carroll and the Foresters possessed the ball for nearly 35 minutes but were unable to put any more points on the scoreboard.
The loss drops Lake Forest's 2014 record to 1-2. The Foresters will play at Beloit College next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. before opening Midwest Conference South Division play at Knox College on October 11.
