Senior cornerback Trevor Bain and senior linebacker Pat McDonaugh each had seven tackles and an interception in the Lake Forest College football team's 41-26 victory over Macalester College at home on Saturday.
Bain picked off a pass at the Forester 10 in the opening quarter and returned it to the 35. It was his second interception of the season and third of his career. Bain also had a 10-yard punt return and three kickoff returns for a total of 54 yards in the contest. McDonaugh's second career interception came in the third quarter and he nearly returned it for a touchdown but stepped out of bounds after a 35-yard return to the Scots' 19.
Sophomore Johnny Laponte led the Lake Forest defense with 10 tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage, and he also broke up a pass.
There were several standouts on offense, beginning with junior quarterback Jagan Cleary, who completed 31 of 40 passes for 337 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also carried the ball four times for 26 yards and his first career score on the ground. Cleary's completion total matched the fourth-highest single-game mark in program history while his completion percentage ranks fifth and the yardage total tied-for-10th. He also passed four former Forester quarterbacks on the program's career passing yardage list and now ranks fifth with 4,340.
Lake Forest junior wide receiver Chris Edomwande accounted for 13 of Cleary's completions, matching the fourth-highest reception total in team annals, and he finished with 171 yards and a touchdown. Edomwande now has 21 catches for 344 yards and a pair of scores in the last two weeks. Sophomore wideout Stanford Ellis, freshman running back/receiver Chase Allen, and senior tailback Joey Valdivia each caught five passes and they combined for 152 yards with Allen and Valdivia each reaching the end zone.
Valdivia also scored a pair of rushing touchdown and finished the contest with 170 yards on 41 carries. He is just the second running back in program history to carry the ball at least 40 times in a game. Valdivia has now scored 15 touchdowns, including a dozen rushing scores, in four games this season.
The Foresters took the early lead on a 3-yard pass from Cleary to Valdivia woth 6:43 to play in the opening period. It capped off a 10-play, 65-yard drive that was set up by Bain's interception.
Cleary's second scoring strike was a 25-yarder to Allen 15 seconds into the second quarter. The extra point attempt was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 13-0.
After Macalester got on the scoreboard with a touchdown just 79 seconds later, Lake Forest answered with a 6-play, 69-yard drive, capped off by a Edomwande's touchdown catch from five yards out. Cleary connected with senior wide receiver Isaac Barthelmess for the two-point conversion, making the score 21-7.
Macalester responded with another touchdown drive but had the extra point attempt carom off the left upright. After the teams traded punts, Lake Forest traveled 58 yards in six plays, the last 17 on a sprint to the end zone by Cleary with just 50 seconds to play in the half.
The third quarter began with a pair of punts and McDonaugh's interception. Six plays later Valdivia scored on a 1-yard run to increase the Forester lead to 21 points at 34-13.
Macalester answered once again, reaching the end zone on a 10-play, 74-yard drive that pulled the Scots back to within 15 points. The next Forester drive ended with the home team's only turnover of the day and Macalester then embarked on an 11-play, 81-yard touchdown drive that made it a one-possession game with 13:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Valdivia carried the ball five times for 36 yards on the next possession and scored the game's final touchdown on a 17-yard run with 9:37 to play.
Lake Forest forced the Scots to turn the ball over on downs in their next possession and was able to run the final seven minutes off the game clock, converting twice on third down and once on fourth.
The victory was the fourth in as many games this season for the Foresters while Macalester fell to 2-2.
Lake Forest will begin Midwest Conference play against visiting Knox College for Homecoming next Saturday. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m.
