In what has already been a season full of milestones for the Grinnell College football team, Saturday’s 41-20 victory at Lake Forest College continued that trend.
The Pioneers rolled up 478 passing yards, the most by a Grinnell team since a 510-yard effort against Lawrence University in 1994, and had 570 yards of total offense, the most by the Pioneers since a 668-yard performance against Macalester College in 2003.
Mike Bogard ’12 (pictured) delivered four touchdown passes while completing 26-of-37 aerials for an amazing 394 yards. Mike McCabe ’13 completed 8-of-10 passes for 84 yards and a score.
Robert Seer ’12 and Logan Granera ’13 each had two TD catches. Seer caught nine passes for 117 yards and Granera had eight catches for 175 yards.
Defensively, Marquis Bradley ’11 had 11 tackles, including two sacks, and an interception. Colton Feller ’14 added nine tackles.
Grinnell broke out to a 21-0 lead, scoring seven points in the first period and 14 more in the second. Seer had the first two touchdowns, catching a 33-yard pass from Bogard with 2:07 left in the first period and 5-yarder from McCabe with 11:33 left in the second frame. On the second of those drives, McCabe had completions of 19 yards to Cody Weber ’13, 16 yards to Seer and 15 to Granera.
Grinnell made it 21-0 with 7:01 left in the half on a 6-yard pass from Bogard to Granera. Big plays on that drive were a 43-yard pass from Bogard to Granera, 14-yard pass from Bogard to Kelsey Davis ’12 and 12-yard rush by TJ Schaid ’13.
Lake Forest closed within 21-6 by halftime and made it 21-13 early in the third period. Grinnell responded with three straight scores, though. The first was a 42-yard pass from Bogard to Granera with 6:51 left in the third period on a drive that also included a 24-yard pass from Bogard to Davis. That boosted the Pioneers to a 28-13 lead entering the final quarter.
Jason Peters ’14 scored his first touchdown as a Pioneer with 13:23 left in the fourth period. The drive included a 16-yard pass from Bogard to Schaid. Augustus Karisch ’11 also got his first touchdown as a member of the Grinnell squad when he caught a 29-yarder from Bogard with 8:32 left in the game. Lake Forest finished off the scoring with a touchdown in the final minute.
Grinnell is now 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the MWC, while Lake Forest dipped to 0-4 and 0-3. The Pioneers return to the home field this coming Saturday, hosting Beloit College at noon at Rosenbloom Field.
