The Lake Forest College football team erased a 12-point second half deficit and defeated host Illinois College 21-14 on Saturday, thanks in large part to four safeties scored by the Forester defense and special teams.
The visitors' first two-pointer of the contest came on a blocked punt by sophomore safety Danny Baker and made the score 7-2 in favor of the Blueboys with 5:50 remaining in the second quarter. It was Baker's fourth blocked punt in 12 career games.
Illinois College went into the locker room at halftime with that same 7-2 advantage and added to it with a touchdown on its first possession of the season half.
The Foresters then scored the final 19 points of the game, beginning with their second safety with 6:13 to play in the third quarter. After sophomore Logan Persson's punt from midfield was downed at the 1-yardline, senior Matt Leonard and freshman Dalton Card tackled the running back on the next play before he could escape the end zone.
A 41-yard return by sophomore wide receiver A.J. Jackson on kickoff following the safety set up the Lake Forest offense at the Illinois College 43. Four plays later Jackson took a wildcat snap himself and scampered 10 yards for the touchdown. Persson's extra point made the score 14-11.
The next Lake Forest drive stalled at the Illinois College 2-yardline, setting up the third safety when junior Jamari Tansmore tackled the quarterback in the end zone on the next play.
Jackson, sophomore Jake De La Torre, and junior Kobee Marion combined to average 34 yards per kickoff return, perhaps explaining why the next Blueboy kickoff went out of bounds and set up the Foresters at the Illinois College 40. Six plays later sophomore running back Armani Brown went untouched into the end zone on a 1-yard run to give the Foresters a 19-14 lead.
Lake Forest came within a yard of another touchdown on its next drive before fumbling the ball away. Safety number four came on 4th-and-5 from the 7-yardline as the quarterback/punter was pushed out the back of the end zone by junior Joey Jaquint.
In addition to the four safeties, the Forester defense picked off three passes, including two by freshman Trenton Brail. Marion had the third to go with his team-high eight tackles.
On the other side of the ball Lake Forest racked up 333 yards of total offense, including 98 on six receptions by Jackson. Junior Stone Matthews ran for 85 yards and sophomore quarterback Vincent Wallace threw for 192.
The Foresters nearly doubled up the Blueboys in time of possession, owning the ball for 39:37 of the game's 60 minutes.
The victory was Lake Forest's second in as many contests this spring. It was the first contest of the year for Illinois College.
The Foresters will play their second and final home game against Ripon College next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
