GALESBURG, Ill. – When Knox scored a touchdown inside the final three minutes of the second quarter on Saturday, it was somewhat surprisingly within one possession of a tie game with Illinois College, trailing 22-14. Then came a decision that the Prairie Fire might like to have back. An onside kick attempt was recovered by IC, setting the Blueboys up with the ball inside the Knox 40-yard line. Three plays later, IC was in the end zone. The touchdown going into halftime was the start of 35 unanswered points for the Blueboys, who pulled away from Knox for a 57-14 victory that improve the team to 6-2 (4-0 Midwest Conference South Division).
After winning the toss and deferring to the second half, the Illinois College coaching staff were made to look like geniuses when Darius Jones picked off a pass from Knox's Matt McCaffrey and took it 43 yards to the house. It is now the second week running that IC has taken an interception return back for a touchdown and it set the Blueboys up with an early 7-0 lead.
Knox would settle in, however. The next Prairie Fire drive went 67 yards, the final 28 through the air from McCaffrey to Ilir Emini to knot the score at 7-7 after the first quarter.
It took another defensive takeaway to ignite the offense. A forced fumble by Dylan Schuler was recovered by Zack Hanlon and returned to the Knox 14-yard line midway through the second quarter. On the first play of the new possession, Michael Bates scrambled into the end zone to give the Blueboys a 14-7 edge.
A three-and-out from the defense followed for Illinois College, gifting the Blueboys solid field position from their own 33. This time Bates attacked the Prairie Fire through the air, throwing four straight times and connecting on all of them to cover 67 yards. A 25-yard touchdown pass to Logan Uyetake ended the drive. After an offsides penalty against Knox on the extra point attempt, IC opted to go for the two-point conversion and converted on a pass from Bates toDyllan Bailey.
Emini has been Knox's go-to receiver the whole season and he showed why again on the ensuing Prairie Fire drive. McCaffrey completed a 42-yard pass to the junior wideout to move into Illinois College territory on a third-and-long, then threw his second touchdown of the day to Emini to make it 22-14.
One thing the Illinois College offense rarely needs is favors, but the Blueboys got one after Tyler Hamm recovered the Knox onside kick attempt. Taking over at the Knox 39, Bates covered 23 yards on two rushing plays before a 16-yard touchdown strike to Bryce Heaton made it 29-14 at the half.
The lead would only grow from there. At halftime, Knox actually held a 181-160 advantage in total offense on the Blueboys. By the time the game was over, IC's advantage in the category would read 490-266. The explosion on the offensive side of the ball by the Blueboys started on the opening possession of the second half. A 46-yard run by Bo Davis spurred IC to a five-play, 61-yard touchdown drive, culminating in another Bates-to-Heaton touchdown, this time from five yards out.
A three-and-out followed, putting the Illinois College offense back on the field. The Blueboys went for the home run ball on the first play, with Bates hitting Uyetake for 58 yards and a 43-14 lead. The third quarter would end with IC driving again deep in the Knox red zone.
Inside the 10-yard line, Illinois College went for it on fourth-and-five to start the fourth quarter. Bates was able to get loose for an eight-yard scamper to put the Blueboys at the half-century mark with a 50-14 cushion. The last touchdown of the day was a 27-yard touchdown run by Bailey with Austin Ellsworth handed the keys to the Illinois College offense.
Bates ended the afternoon 17-of-31 for 302 yards and four touchdown passes. He also ran for 46 yards and two scores. Davis was the leading rusher in the game with 64 yards on just four carries. In a duel of two outstanding receivers, Heaton just barely outperformed Emini, hauling in eight catches for 136 yards and two scores, compared to seven catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns for his Knox counterpart.
Marvell White led the IC defense with 4.5 tackles (four solo), including two for a loss. James Dambacher, Abdual Hilton Jr. and Meeko Reddick all had one sack each. In addition to the Jones interception returned for a touchdown, Nick Grapperhaus also had a pick of McCaffrey in the game, which he returned 20 yards.
Illinois College will be in pursuit of an outright South Division title at home on Nov. 8 as Cornell College pays a visit to England Stadium. Kickoff that day will be at 1 p.m.
IC FOOTBALL OVERWHELMS KNOX, 57-14
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141101_ksbh.xml
2014
Illinois College
57
Knox
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois College (6-2) | 7 | 22 | 14 | 14 | 57 |
| Knox (2-6) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Nov 01, 2014