Junior safety R.J. Pompey had two of Lake Forest's four blocked kicks on the day but the Forester football team fell 35-21 at St. Norbert College on Saturday.
Pompey blocked a 26-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and a 47-yarder late in the period. Sophomore wide receiver Chris Edomwande and freshman linebacker John Laponte added blocked punts in the first and third quarters, respectively. The Forester special teams also provided the team's first points of the day on a 96-yard kickoff return by senior wideout Alex Pasiewicz.
St. Norbert started fast, scoring touchdowns on four of its first five possessions. The fourth score occurred on the first play of the second quarter and Pasiewicz returned the ensuing kickoff to the end zone for the second time this season. The return moved Pasiewicz up four spots on the program's all-time list for kickoff return yards in a career and he now ranks second in that category with 1,091. He is also the Foresters' career leader in yards per kickoff return at 24.8.
The score remained 28-7 until early in the third quarter when Lake Forest senior tailback Joey Valdivia reached the end zone on a 25-yard run.
The Foresters were four yards away from pulling to within one score later in the third quarter but a Green Knight interception on fourth down ended the drive. The home team then traveled 80 yards in 13 plays and took nearly seven minutes off the clock to take a commanding 21-point lead.
Lake Forest was able to score once more on a one-yard run by Valdivia with 98 seconds remaining in the contest. Valdivia finished the game with 118 yards on a career-high 27 carries and already has 662 rushing yards at the midway mark of the season. Valdivia has also scored 11 rushing touchdowns on the year, matching the fourth-highest total in team history.
Pasiewicz led all player in the game with a career-high nine catches and 98 receiving yards. Forester sophomore quarterback completed 19 of 36 passes for 200 yards.
Senior safety Dan Harris led the visitors with seven tackles while Pompey, junior cornerback Chase Slagboom, and sophomore linebacker Jordan McInerney added six apiece. Junior cornerback Trevor Bain forced a fumble, which was recovered by senior linebacker Joe Nitti for the Forester defense's only turnover of the contest.
Lake Forest fell to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in Midwest Conference play while St. Norbert evened its overall record at 2-2 and improved to 2-0 in the league.
The Foresters will return to Farwell Field for Homecoming next Saturday against Ripon College. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m.
