| Lake Forest College Sports Information
October 9, 2004 Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID Lake Forest Records 43-2 Homecoming Rout of Knox
Senior wide receiver Nick Hildreth (Lombard, IL/Willowbrook) finished the afternoon with eight catches for 135 yards and a touchdown. He is now the only player in school history to amass 2,000 career receiving yards. Of the home team’s 387 total yards, 156 came on the ground, with sophomore running back Anthony Gebhart (Addison, IL/Addison Driscoll) leading all rushers with 19 carries for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Juniors Andre Washington (West Palm Beach, FL/Benjamin) and Bill McMahon (North Andover, MA/Brooks School) also added scoring runs. Washington finished with nine carries netting 40 yards and McMahon scampered for 26 yards on his only carry. On the Foresters’ opening drive of the game, the snap from center to punter in the team’s end zone was unsuccessful and resulted in a Knox safety, putting the visitors ahead 2-0 with 9:29 to play in the quarter, which ended after three more punts and before either team scored again. The home team’s third possession started with four plays in the opening period – three runs by Gebhart totaling 11 yards and a 27-yard reception by senior Marty Quinn (Evergreen Park, IL/Mt. Carmel). A 31-yard Mahaney-to-Hildreth pass play moved the ball to the Prairie Fire three yard line and Gebhart punched the ball through the line for the score. After a successful two-point conversion, Lake Forest led 8-2. Quinn finished the afternoon with three catches for 41 yards. Just three plays were needed for Lake Forest to reach the end zone the next time it had the ball. Mahaney hit Hildreth for a 12-yard gain, Gebhart broke through for a 21-yard rush, and Hildreth caught a 19-yard touchdown pass. The Foresters were successful again on the two-point conversion and posted a 16-2 lead with 12:41 to play in the half. A fumble ended the Prairie Fire’s next drive and senior Chris Polizzi (Great Barrington, MA/Williston) recovered at the Knox 19, which set up a touchdown pass to Huebner on the Foresters’ first play from scrimmage. After the extra point kick, the home team led 23-2 and took that score into intermission. The Lake Forest offense struck again two minutes into the third period. Gebhart started the half with a 19-yard carry, moving the sticks to the Foresters’ 47. Following a pair of passes to Quinn totaling 14 yards, Gebhart took over, netting an 11-yard gain and then scoring on a 28-yard run. The extra point increased the home team’s lead to 30-2. Lake Forest did not threaten to score again until the fourth quarter. Starting the possession with 11:31 to play in the contest, Mahaney used a dozen plays to march 66 yards and into the end zone to notch another score. The drive featured six carries from Washington totaling 30 yards and the junior’s second career touchdown with 4:34 to play, increasing the lead to 37-2. The offense was not yet finished, however. From the Knox 26 yard line, McMahon scored his first career touchdown on his only carry of the afternoon. The score with 2:17 left in the contest swelled the lead to 43-2, the eventual final score. The defense limited Knox to 112 rushing yards and just 26 passing yards. The Foresters forced three fumbles, ten punts, and tallied six sacks. Sophomore linebacker Louis Bertuca (Chicago, IL/Fenwick) anchored the defense with eight tackles, with half of them coming behind the line of scrimmage. He also recorded 1.5 sacks. Freshman Sean McGuire (Pompano Beach, FL/Cardinal Gibbons) finished with a career-high seven tackles and sophomore Ryan Gallegos (Plantation, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) added six tackles, including a sack. Lake Forest will look to move ahead in the conference standings next Saturday (October 16) when the team battles Illinois College (5-1, 4-1). The Foresters have taken the last three meeting against the Blueboys, including a 21-9 win last year. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.
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