The Grinnell College football team’s offense was firing on all cylinders Saturday as the Pioneers steamrolled the Lake Forest Foresters 49-34 at Rosenbloom Field.
The Pioneers’ point output was the most in a game since scoring 54 against Carroll in 2001. Additionally, Mike McCabe ’13 (left) had a hand in seven touchdowns, just one shy of the school record of eight established by Troy Dougherty against Illinois College in 1997.
Five of McCabe’s touchdowns were passes, which ties for third-best in school history, and Robert Seer ’12 (right) had three TD catches, also tied for third-best in a game.
Grinnell improved to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the Midwest Conference, while Lake Forest fell to 0-3 both overall and in the league.
McCabe completed 26-of-37 aerials without an interception, while Seer hauled in 11 passes for 156 yards. Logan Granera ’12 added six catches for 81 yards.
The rushing attack was paced by Cody Weber ’13, who had 30 yards.
Defensively, Kelsey Davis ’12 and Richard Renteria ’15 had 13 tackles apiece, while Drew Blumberg ’13 recorded nine stops, Jeremy Wiles ’14 had eight and Ryan Creps ’12 and Colton Feller ’14 had seven apiece.
Lake Forest opened the scoring with a touchdown, but Grinnell countered with a 4-yard TD pass from McCabe to Granera with 9:48 left in the first period. Granera’s 61-yard kickoff return helped spark the drive, and he also kicked the extra point.
A fumble recovery by Tom Brinkman ’13 deep in Forester territory early in the second period set up Grinnell’s next touchdown, a 10-yard pass from McCabe to Seer. Granera’s extra point made it 14-7 at the 14:00 mark.
Grinnell made it 22-7 a short time later when McCabe hit Granera on a 29-yard scoring strike at the 4:18 mark. Davis connected with Jason Peters ’14 on the two-point conversion pass.
Lake Forest scored right before halftime to make it a 22-14 game at the break.
McCabe scored on a 14-yard run with 11:17 left in the third period and Granera made the point after for a 29-14 lead. A 22-yard pass to Granera keyed the drive.
Lake Forest followed with a touchdown, but the Pioneers answered right back in two plays for a score. McCabe first hit Seer on a 29-yard pass and then completed a 25-yard TD aerial to Seer at the 7:11 mark. The kick was no good, leaving the score at 35-20.
Lake Forest added another touchdown later in the period to make it 35-26.
In the fourth period, Seer caught a 16-yard TD pass from McCabe at the 13:31 mark and McCabe ran for a 7-yard score with 7:13 left. Granera booted both extra points to push the Pioneers ahead 49-26. Lake Forest scored with just over five minutes left to make it 49-34, which it remained the rest of the game.
Grinnell takes to the road this coming Saturday to face Beloit College in a 2 p.m. contest.
