The Beloit College football team fell to the Midwest Conference North Division leader Lake Forest 47-0 Saturday afternoon at Strong Stadium.
The Foresters' balanced attack featured the air game early on but it was the ground game that gave Lake Forest the lead. LFC's Stone Matthews looked to be bottled up but came spurting through the line into an open field for a 25-yard touchdown just over five minutes into the game. The Foresters added a touchdown through the air and another rushing score to make it 21-0 after the first.
Following to field goals, including one that hit the upright and still made it through the wickets, Lake Forest, with the top-scoring defense in the league, took over. A 62-yard pick six followed by a 93 yard interception return for a touchdown sandwiched the intermission to make it 40-0. A rushing touchdown late in the third provided the final score of the game.
The Buccaneers, boasting some of the top defenders in the league, showcased their athleticism to highlight Saturday's game. Just four plays into the game,
Chase Carratt beat a lineman to the edge getting to the LFC quarterback for a sack and a loss of eight yards. Carratt got to the Foresters QB again in their next drive, this time for a loss of 10 yards bringing his season total to 6.5 sacks for a loss of 55 yards. He now leads the North Division in tackles for a loss with 13.0 for a loss of 69 yards.
Carratt came up with another fantastic defensive play in the second quarter. Once again getting to the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, Carratt knocked the ball loose that teammate
Lens Bernadel jumped on for the turnover. Bernadel got in on the sack action with a solo in the Foresters' next drive pinning LFC for a loss of eight yards on his first of the season.
Jeff Vazquez provided the special teams highlight of the game for the Bucs. Just over five minutes into the second half following a defensive stand, Vazquez burst through the blockers getting his hand on a Lake Forest punt that was picked up by teammate
Cyrus Roman and returned 24-yards down to the Foresters' 11-yard line.
Josh Shapiro registered a season-high eight tackles including two tackles for a loss of nine yards to lead the Buccaneer defense.
James Miranda added seven tackles including six solo and three that tabbed LFC for a loss of eight yards in the game.
Andrei Prikhodko, Beloit's top tackler and among the top in the league, added six tackles Saturday bringing his season total to 57.
Offensively,
Curtis Luther made his return from an injury completing seven passes including four to
Juan Reyes for 25 yards.
Ethan Hansen was tapped for the carry on 19 occasions.
Beloit continues its MWC-North Division slate at Ripon College next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
