Lake Forest College Sports Information
October 23, 2004
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Foresters Stay in MWC Title Hunt with 23-19 Triumph at Carroll
Drew Holman breaks school record for career interceptions

Drew Holman now holds or shares the school record for interceptions in a game (3-tied), season (7), and career (16).
WAUKESHA, WI - The Lake Forest College football team raised its overall record to 7-1 and its Midwest Conference mark to 6-1 with a 23-19 victory at Carroll College Sunday (October 23) night. The Pioneers fell to 3-5 overall and 3-4 in the league.

Junior running back Andre Washington (West Palm Beach, FL/Benjamin) and freshman quarterback Jeff Ziemnik (Oswego, IL/Oswego) led the Foresters in rushing with 37 and 35 yards, respectively. Sophomore signal-caller Matt Mahaney (West Chicago, IL/Addison Driscoll) completed 15 of 34 pass attempts for 221 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Mahaney is now just 79 yards and three touchdowns shy of the single-season school records in each category. Senior Nick Hildreth (Lombard, IL/Willowbrook) had six receptions for a game-high 78 yards and classmate Marty Quinn (Evergreen Park, IL/Mt. Carmel) caught three passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore linebacker Ryan Gallegos (Plantation, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) led Lake Forest’s defense with 12 tackles, including a sack. It was the fourth time in the last six games that he recorded at least a dozen stops and he leads the squad with 6.5 sacks this season. Senior safety Drew Holman (Morris, IL/Morris) had eight tackles in the game and added a pair of interceptions after picking off three Pioneer passes last year and one more during his sophomore campaign. He now has 16 interceptions in his three-year career, the most of any player in school history.

Another school record was matched on Saturday when senior wide receiver/kicker Mike Carter (Arlington Heights, IL/St. Viator) became just the third player in team history to make three field goals in a game. He is now 5-of-8 on three-pointers this season.

Lake Forest held a 221-181 edge in passing yards but was out-gained 349-298 overall. The Pioneers also controlled the ball for 34:24 and recorded 18 first downs, two more than the Foresters. Both teams threw two interceptions and neither lost a fumble.

The game’s first score came on the contest’s fifth possession. Carroll started at its own 20-yard line and traveled 80 yards in eight plays with 49 of them coming on the touchdown run. Mahaney connected with Hildreth on a 42-yard completion on the first play of the ensuing possession and, seven plays later, Carter made a 33-yard field goal to put the visitors on the scoreboard.

On the second play of the second quarter, freshman defensive back Sean McGuire (Pompano Beach, FL/Cardinal Gibbons) blocked a Pioneer punt and recovered it at the home team’s 8-yard line. Ziemnik took care of the final eight yards for his second rushing touchdown of the season. Carter’s extra point gave the Foresters a 10-7 lead.

After each team punted, three consecutive possessions resulted in field goals. After Carroll tied the score with a 23-yarder, Lake Forest drove 58 yards in eight plays before Carter connected from 19 yards out. Mahaney completed four passes for 48 yards on the drive. Finally, the Pioneers traveled 35 yards in the final minute of the period and kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to make the score 13-13.

After Lake Forest punted on its first possession of the second half, the home team took a 19-13 lead with an eight-play, 82-yard touchdown drive but missed the extra point. The Foresters cut that margin in half with a 25-yard Carter field goal that was set up by a 68-yard kickoff return by freshman wide receiver Tom Cirone (Chicago, IL/Niles Notre Dame), who finished the contest with 99 yards on three returns.

Forty of the next 42 plays from scrimmage began in Pioneer territory. After a pair of interceptions, a punt and two more interceptions on consecutive plays, Lake Forest had the ball at the Carroll 29-yard line and Holman had his place in the Forester record books. The visitors ran off 11 plays, including seven from inside the 10-yard line, but came up empty as a fourth-and-goal carry was stopped at the Pioneer one.

The field position advantage finally paid off for Lake Forest on its next possession, which began at the Carroll 44 following a Pioneer punt. Mahaney completed a 21-yard pass and, after losing 12 yards on an intentional grounding penalty, found Quinn wide open for a 35-yard touchdown. Carter’s 11th point of the night made the score 23-19 with 6:46 remaining.

Carroll punted from the Lake Forest 42 on what turned out to be the home team’s final possession of the game. The Foresters recorded three first downs to run the last three minutes and 17 seconds off the clock.

Lake Forest will host Lawrence University (1-7, 1-7 MWC) at 1:00 next Saturday afternoon before traveling to St. Norbert College (7-1, 7-0) for the season finale the following weekend. St. Norbert currently leads the Foresters and Monmouth College (7-1, 6-1) by one game in the league standings.

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