Foresters Hold off Ripon College to Stay Undefeated
Gebhart scores four touchdowns, Hildreth breaks receiving record in win

Nick Hildreth's 1,813 career receiving yards rank first in the program's history.

Sophomore running back Anthony Gebhart (Addison, IL/Addison Driscoll) recorded another stellar performance, finishing the day with 17 carries for a team-high 106 yards. He also scored four touchdowns, pushing his season total to seven. Gebhart gave Lake Forest an early lead after a 29-yard score in the team’s first possession of the contest. The extra point gave the home team a 7-0 advantage with 12:02 left in the first quarter, but Ripon answered later in the period to tie the score at seven with less than four minutes to play.

On the Foresters’ final drive of the period, sophomore quarterback Matt Mahaney (West Chicago, IL/Addison Driscoll) connected with classmate Devin Furlong (West Palm Beach, FL/Cardinal Newman) for a pair of receptions totaling 39 yards, and Gebhart added a ten-yard carry and a 15-yard touchdown run to put Lake Forest up 14-7. Furlong finished the game with a career-high four receptions netting 57 yards.

Freshman Richie Miller (Davie, FL/Nova) deflected a Red Hawk punt on the second quarter’s first play, positioning Lake Forest on the Ripon 35 with 14:48 remaining in the half. Mahaney completed back-to-back passes to seniors Mike Carter (Arlington Heights, IL/St. Viator) and Nick Hildreth (Lombard, IL/Willowbrook) for nine and a dozen yards, respectively, then found senior Marty Quinn (Evergreen Park, IL/Mt. Carmel) for a 24-yard touchdown pass to put the home team up 21-7. Carter and Quinn each finished the contest with four catches and had 32 and 55 yards, respectively, and Hildreth led all receivers with eight receptions for a game-high 122 yards. The senior has now accumulated 1,813 total receiving yards in his career, making him the program’s all-time leader in that category.

Freshman Tom Cirone (Chicago, IL/Niles Notre Dame) got a piece of Ripon’s next punt and Lake Forest began the next drive on its own 39. The Foresters got as close as the Red Hawk’s 5-yard line, but settled for a 27-yard field goal from Carter. The senior connected on one of two field goal attempts and was perfect on extra points (7-7).

Trailing 24-7 with 6:13 left in the half, the visitors mounted a comeback which included rushing touchdowns from 72, nine, and 54 yards out to post a 27-24 halftime lead. Then, on their first drive of the second half, the Red Hawks completed a 56-yard scoring pass to build a 34-24 advantage with fewer than 12 minutes to play in the third.

After a missed Lake Forest field goal, Ripon was pinned on its own 8-yard line and was forced to punt. Freshman Brian Hurtuk (Rocky River, OH/St. Ignatius) recorded the Foresters third blocked punt of the game, giving Lake Forest the ball near midfield with 6:25 left in the quarter. From there, Gebhart racked up 20 yards on consecutive carries and Mahaney found junior Jeff Huebner (Antioch, IL/Antioch) for a 33-yard touchdown reception, bringing Lake Forest to within three points (34-31) with fewer than five minutes left in the period. Mahaney threw a pair of touchdowns on the afternoon and connected on 27 of 44 passes for 365 yards, the second-highest total in team history.

The visitors’ next possession ended near midfield on freshman Edward Kidd’s (Round Lake, IL/Buffalo Grove) first career interception. A completion to Hildreth for 19 yards, an eight-yard Gebhart scamper, a 15-yard pass to Furlong, and a seven yard end zone plunge by Gebhart gave the Foresters a 38-34 lead heading into the final frame. Kidd led the defense for the second straight game with 11 tackles and senior Scott Hodina (Lake Villa, IL/Antioch) added seven, including his team-high fourth sack.

Ripon scored for the last time with 8:37 to play in the contest, giving the Red Hawks a 41-38 lead, but the home team responded midway through the quarter. Senior Nick Waite (South Bend, IN/St. Joseph) set up the eventual game-winning drive with a fumble recovery at the guest’s 25. Following a 10-yard penalty on the Foresters, Furlong added eight more of his 83 rushing yards, a Mahaney-to-Quinn 14-yard connection advanced the team to the 13, and Gebhart broke away for his fourth touchdown of the day.

The Foresters held Ripon to 420 total yards while registering 553 yards, the third-highest amount in school history, including 365 through the air. The team also had 30 first downs, a new school record.

Lake Forest will travel to Monmouth College (3-1, 2-1 MWC) on Saturday (October 2). The away team has won each of the last four meetings between the two programs. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.

By Franklyn Beckford

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