In a game that saw every healthy player on the Forester roster play, the Lake Forest College football team broke the program's single-game scoring record in a 79-0 victory over visiting Grinnell College on Saturday.
Of the Foresters' 11 touchdowns, six came on passes from junior Tre Stewart to classmate A.J. Jackson. Jackson shattered the previous school record of four touchdown receptions in a game while Stewart is the second quarterback in team annals to pass for six scores. Jackson caught 12 passes and also broke the team's single-game record for receiving yards with 275. Stewart was 19-for-26 and his 347 passing yards rank ninth in program history while his efficiency rating of 261.34 is third. They connected on scoring plays of 16, 47, and 57 yards in the game's first eight minutes and for touchdowns of 45, 7, and 5 yards in the second quarter.
Senior tailback Damon Bonds rushed for 92 yards on just six carries to set a new team record with 15.4 yards per carry. He also scored twice, reaching the end zone from 51 yards out late in the opening period and on a 13-yarder in the second.
Senior kicker Patrick Goldammer matched the program record by making all 10 of his extra point attempts. He also kicked a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter.
The Foresters' 59 points in the first half is also a school record and their 31 points in the second quarter alone ranks third in team history.
Junior H-back Henry Bechok took his second career reception 62 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and freshman tailback Jayce Knutsen scored from a yard out later in the period. The final touchdown came on an 8-yard run by freshman tailback Mal Chunn.
Lake Forest's 632 yards of total offense is the second-highest mark in team annals while the offense's 9.6 yards per play is just shy of the school record of 9.7. The home team had 434 passing yards, the second-most in program history and just 11 shy of the record.
Defensively, Lake Forest limited the Pioneers to just seven total yards on the day and Grinnell lost 34 yards in the first half. Junior defensive end Alex Bendler was one of four players on the squad who shared team-high honors with four tackles apiece and two of his stops were sacks. Five other Foresters also recorded a sack and the unit recorded 17 tackles for loss in the contest. Junior cornerback Dante Esposito turned in his seventh interception in as many games this season and junior safety Danny Baker forced a fumble that was recovered by junior linebacker Javan Ah Quin.
Grinnell is now 2-5 overall and 2-4 in Midwest Conference play this season.
The victory was the Foresters' 10th in a row, the second-longest streak in program history. The team is 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference this season and will travel to Monmouth College, which is also 6-0 in the league, next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.