The Lake Forest College defense walked off the field on Saturday with its third consecutive shutout, a 24-0 triumph at Grinnell College.
Junior linebacker Jordan McInerney led the Foresters with 10 tackles, including six solos, while senior linebacker Charlie Timmerman and junior defensive end Jordan McInerney added seven stops apiece. With 3.0 tackles for loss in the contest, McInerney raised his total on the year in that category to 15.0, matching the fifth-highest single season mark in program history. Lake Forest also forced a pair of turnovers on the afternoon, including the first career interception for freshman defensive back Kobee Marion.
Senior tailback Nick Edlund scored all three of the visitors' touchdowns, two on the ground and one receiving. He finished with 178 yards on 27 carries and covered 19 yards on two catches. Senior quarterback Jagan Cleary completed 19 of 35 passes for 192 yards and a score and he did not throw an interception. Cleary's top three wide receivers, senior Chris Edomwande and sophomores John Rall and Chase Allen, combined for 15 receptions for 159 yards.
Junior kicker/punter Michael Bounds made all three of his extra point attempts and a 28-yard field goal and averaged 41.5 yards on a pair of punts. Sophomore Ryan Barry returned the Pioneers' only kickoff of the day 25 yards and junior Jeremy Brown totaled 44 yards on two punt returns. He is averaging 14.3 yards per return on the year.
The game was scoreless until Edlund reached the end zone on a 19-yard run with 8:13 to play in the second quarter. He scored on a 16-yard reception less than five minutes later and the visitors went into the locker room at halftime ahead 14-0. A Bounds field goal mid-way through the third quarter increased the lead to 17 points and Edlund finished off the scoring with a 2-yard run with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
The shutout of Grinnell followed a 45-0 victory at Knox College two weeks ago and a 42-0 blanking of Cornell College at home last Saturday. The Foresters had not held three straight opponents scoreless since the final three games of the 1939 season.
Lake Forest is now 5-2 overall and 3-0 in Midwest Conference South Division play while Grinnell fell to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in the MWC South.
The Foresters will travel to Monmouth College, the other 3-0 team in the division, for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff next Saturday.
