| Lake Forest College Sports Information
November 8, 2008 Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID Lake Forest Drops Season Finale to Visiting Carroll University
Lake Forest received the opening kickoff and started a streak of six straight possessions without a first down. Unfortunately for the Foresters, the second of their four punts during that span was returned for a touchdown and Carroll had an early 7-0 lead. The visitors doubled their advanatage after traveling 68 yards on eight plays on the game's seventh possession. The teams traded punts again before Lake Forest scored its first touchdown of the contest early in the second quarter. The home team went 70 yards in 10 plays, including two completions for 59 yards from sophomore quarterback Geoff Sobey (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Prospect) to freshman running back Maurice White (Miami, Fla./Dade Christian School), and senior Sam Kotler (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley) capped off the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone. The extra point was blocked and the Foresters trailed 14-6 with 9:49 to play in the period. Both team punted again prior to an 11-play, 80-yard drive by the Pioneers netted another touchdown and a 21-6 lead for the visitors going into halftime. The Foresters forced Carroll to punt on each of its three third-quarter possessions but was unable to cut into the lead because of a lost fumble and blocked field goal. Lake Forest punted early in the fourth quarter, got the ball back on a fumble recovery by senior safety Matt Lawler (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita), but eventually turned it back over on downs at the Carroll 22. The home team forced another Pioneer punt and took over on its own 26. Sobey led the Foresters on a 10-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard run into the end zone by White, the first rushing touchdown of his career. Sobey completed two passes for 40 yards to junior wide receiver Dan Carter (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator) on the drive and one for 26 yards to White, who also had back-to-back runs of nine and four yards into Carroll territory. The extra point was missed and Lake Forest trailed 21-12 with 5:46 to play. The Foresters got the ball back on their own 20 with 4:02 to play but the comeback effort was thwarted by a Pioneer interception and, five rushing attempts later, Carroll reached the end zone for the clinching touchdown. Sobey completed 16 of 37 passes for 216 yards in the game and did not throw a touchdown pass or interception. White finished the contest with a game-high 80 rushing yards on 15 carries and six receptions for 93 yards. Carter also caught six passes and his 98 receiving yards gave him 897 on the year, the third-highest total in team history. His 58 catches on the year rank tied-for-fourth. After just three seasons, Carter is already the Foresters' career leader with 2,423 receiving yards and 29 touchdown catches. His 144 career receptions rank second, just 25 shy of Nick Hildreth's record set in 2004. Three Foresters reached double figures in tackles in the game, led by senior safety Matt Lawler (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) with a dozen. He led the team with 89 tackles this season and finished his career with 259 stops as well as 16 interceptions. Junior linebacker Donovan Baldridge (St. Louis, Mo./Chaminade) and freshman safety Luke Butts (Warrensburg, Ill./Warrensburg) recorded 10 tackles apiece. Senior defensive lineman Chris Tossing (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Wentzville Holt) recorded his team-high sixth sack of the season and surpassed 200 tackles for his career. Junior defensive lineman Jaron Eanes (Cleveland, Ohio/Lake Forest Academy) had 2.5 tackles for loss against Carroll and led the 2008 team in that category with 14.0. Along with Kotler, Lawler, and Tossing, the team will also lose wide receivers Tim McNamee (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven) and Sean O'Brien (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin), linebacker Steven Swade (Riverside, Ill./Fenwick), and offensive lineman Kirk Becker (Princeton, Ill./Princeton), Larry Rategan (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick), and Juan Martinez (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) to graduation. They were recognized before the Senior Day game.
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