Sophomore Stone Matthews ran for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns to help lead Lake Forest to a 28-3 victory over Knox College on Saturday. It was the Foresters' annual Homecoming game.
Matthews accounted for 16 of the Foresters' 50 rushing attempts on the afternoon and reached the end zone from 28 yards out in the second quarter and from 17 yards away in the fourth.
Junior Alex Adams added 18 carries for 65 yards and a 9-yard touchdown and freshman Armani Brown chipped in with 31 yards on five attempts.
Senior quarterback Bill Degnan thew just 17 passes in the contest, completing 11 for 138 yards and a score. The touchdown went to freshman wide receiver A.J. Jackson, who had four catches for 61 yards on the day. He also continued to be a weapon in the return game, averaging 24 yards on a pair of kickoff returns and 19.7 on three punt returns.
Sophomore safety Anthony Rieck, senior linebacker Johnny Laponte, and senior defensive end Jordan McInerney led the Lake Forest defense with seven tackles apiece and Laponte added an interception and 67-yard return in the first quarter. McInerney now has 9.5 tackles for loss on the season and 42.0 for his career, eight shy of the program record. Junior cornerback Jordan Briggs also picked off a pass and sophomore defensive lineman Robert McPhee recorded a sack.
Knox, which entered the game leading the league in points, gained just 255 total yards and the visitors' only points of the contest came on a field goal early in the second quarter. The Foresters scored touchdowns on each of their next three possessions, two in the second quarter and one in the third. They closed out the scoring with one more touchdown drive in the fourth and finished the game having possessed the ball for 33 minutes and 38 seconds.
Saturday's victory extended Lake Forest's winning streak on Homecoming to five years and the team is now 3-1 this season. Knox fell to 2-2.
The Foresters will begin Midwest Conference North Division play at Macalester College next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
