Freshman A.J. Jackson scored twice on plays of more than 80 yards to help lead Lake Forest to a 44-0 victory over visiting Grinnell College on Saturday.
Jackson reached the end zone on an 82-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter and on an 85-yard punt return in the second. He also returned the opening kickoff 60 yards and a second punt return touchdown of 58 yards negated by a penalty.
Jackson's kickoff return set up a quick 3-play, 25-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Alex Adams II just 80 seconds into the contest. The home team doubled its lead on Jackson's first score less than two minutes later and the score remained 14-0 for the rest of the opening quarter.
A 37-yard field goal by Forester senior Michael Bounds on the second pay of the second quarter made it a 17-0 game and Jackson's punt return score extended the lead to 24 points with 11:43 to play in the half. Freshman tailback Stone Matthews scored his first career touchdown from a yard out and Degnan hit sophomore tight end Cooper Tomlin for a 28-yard touchdown in the final minute to give the home team a 38-0 halftime lead.
The third and fourth quarters were shortened to 10 minutes each and the final score of the game came on a 20-yard run by freshman tailback Armani Brown with 9:16 remaining. Brown finished the afternoon with 55 rushing yards on just five carries while Adams ran for a game-high 57 yards on 11 attempts. Matthews added 42 yards on five carries. Degnan completed 6 of 10 pass attempts for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Seven different Foresters caught one pass in the contest.
Playing time was spread out on the defensive side of the ball as well with no Forester recording more than four tackles. Sophomore defensive lineman Robert McPhee registered a pair of sacks while senior lineman Jordan McInerney and junior cornerback Jordan Briggs had one apiece. Briggs also broke up three passes in the game. The unit limited the Pioneers to 122 total yards, including just 17 on 29 rushing attempts.
Lake Forest is now 2-0 on the young season while Grinnell fell to 0-2.
After a weekend off, the Foresters will play at the University of Chicago on September 28 at 1:00 p.m.
