Foresters Fall, 40-39, in Shootout With Illinois College
IC Takes First Lead With Two Seconds Remaining in the Game

LAKE FOREST, IL - Visiting Illinois College kept their Midwest Conference title hopes alive with a thrilling 40-39 win over Lake Forest College on Saturday (October 21st) at Farwell Field.

Illinois College (6-1, 5-1 MWC) took their first lead of the day with just two seconds left in the game on a Derek Leonard to Dan Holden two-point conversion pass. The conversion came on the heels of an eight-yard touchdown strike from Leonard to Dan Klendworth. 

Lake Forest (3-4, 3-3 MWC) got five touchdowns and 323 yards of offense (242 passing and 81 rushing) from junior quarterback Andy Heikes (Palos Hills, IL/Stagg) in defeat. 

Heikes scored the Foresters first five touchdowns on runs of 3, 26, 1, 15, and 2 yards as Lake Forest built a 32-17 lead with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter. 

But IC would be on the positive end of four of the game's next five scores, including 17 points in the fourth quarter. IC cut the Forester lead to 32-23 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter on a Holden touchdown pass from Leonard. 

A Steve Bradshaw 30-yard field goal and a Patrick Bowman two-yard touchdown run tied the score at 32-32 with 12:06 to play in the fourth quarter. Bowman finished the day with 78 yards rushing and seven catches for 28 yards receiving.

Lake Forest broke the tie with just over a minute to play on Jason Arendsee's (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) ten-yard touchdown run. Pat Dunne's (Chicago, IL/Marist) extra point gave the Foresters a 39-32 lead and set up Leonard and Illinois College's heroics. A kick-off, 11 plays, 62 yards, and a two-point conversion later, and IC had escaped with a one-point victory.

Lake Forest totaled 492 yards of offense, evenly dispersed between 240 rushing and 252 receiving, on the afternoon. Heikes finished 9 of 16 passing for 242 yards and no interceptions.

His counterpart, Leonard, was equally impressive. He completed 25 of 47 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. 

A receiver from each team went over the century mark receiving. Klendworth had six catches for 102 yards for IC, while Lake Forest's Marty Folan (Rolling Meadows, IL/Rolling Meadows) had three grabs for a career-high 111 yards.

The Foresters will play their final home game of the season next Saturday (October 28th) when they host St. Norbert College at 1:30. The Green Knights are currently 7-0 on the season and leading the MWC at 6-0. SNC is ranked 20th in the nation according to the latest American Football Coaches Association poll and won last year's MWC title.

Box Score