Senior Alex Pasiewicz caught a program record four touchdown passes and also scored on a punt return in the Lake Forest College football team's 53-13 victory at Grinnell College on Saturday.
Pasiewicz had six catches and his 184 receiving yards on the day are the fifth-highest single-game total in team history. The extra point following his 77-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter tied the score at seven and he added two scoring grabs of 12 yards and one of 71 in the Foresters' school record 40-point second quarter. He also returned a punt 59 yards for his fifth total touchdown of the game with 1:42 to play in the first half. In addition to becoming the first player in school history with four touchdown catches in a game, Pasiewicz is now the only Forester to return two punts for touchdowns in a season or career. His 11.5 yards per punt return and 26.2 yards per kickoff return over the last four years are also program records.
All four of the touchdown passes to Pasiewicz came from the arm of sophomore quarterback Jagan Cleary, who was 8-for-14 for 213 yards on the afternoon. His 279.23 pass efficiency rating in the game is the best mark in school history and he finished his second season as Lake Forest's career leader in that category at 142.26.
Two of the Foresters' other three touchdowns came on rushes by senior tailback Joey Valdivia, whose 29 rushing touchdowns are a dozen more than the previous school record. He carried the ball 21 times for 113 yards on the day and scored on a 9-yard run in the first quarter and a 34-yarder in the second. Valdivia surpassed the school record for rushing yards in a season early in the game and finished with 1,535 on the year.
Valdivia was not the only running back on the team with a notable accomplishment on Saturday. Fellow senior Charlie Quinn carried the ball 54 yards on his only carry of the game and added 18 yards on one reception. He finished his four years with 3,020 all-purpose yards, including 2,092 on the ground.
The Lake Forest defense also had a good day at Grinnell. Junior safety R.J. Pompey led the squad with eight tackles, including five solos, and he also forced a fumble and intercepted a pass. Sophomore linebacker Jonathan Tefel was one of three Foresters with six stops and he had 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery. Fellow sophomore linebacker Charlie Timmerman also had six tackles and a fumble recovery. A third Grinnell fumble was recovered by senior safety Joe Nitti in the end zone following a sack by senior safety/linebacker Dan Harris late in the second quarter.
In addition to the highest-scoring quarter in team history, the Foresters's 53 points in the first half was also a program record. The team finished the season with 386 points to shatter the school record in that category by 64. Lake Forest's 439.9 yards per game on the season was also a team record as were the squad's 32 rushing touchdowns, 14.0 yards per punt return, and 25.9 yards per kickofff return.
The Foresters finished the year with six straight victories, an 8-2 overall record, and a 6-2 mark in Midwest Conference games. Grinnell is now 0-9 overall and 0-7 in the league.