The Buccaneer football team fell to Knox on the road 45-21 after the Prairie Fire posted 28 points in the second quarter Saturday afternoon.
On a gloomy day in Galesburg, Beloit found a bright spot scoring on their second drive of the game to take an early lead. Defense turned into offense as
Andrei Prikhodko forced a fumble at the 50-yard line that was recovered by Beloit's
Trey Bishop at the Knox 48.
Silas Say was tapped for the first play of the drive. He took the handoff and scampered 19 yards down to the Knox 29. Say followed that up with a six-yard jaunt to give BC a second and four at the 23.
An incomplete pass made it third down and the Bucs went back to Say who converted with a seven-yard rush. In the redzone,
Efren Young took over for the first two plays gaining six yards on two carries to put the Bucs on the 10. On third and four, Beloit went back to the air as
Alex Alvarez found
Juan Reyes in the endzone for the touchdown.
Alonso Casillas made in 7-0 Beloit with the extra point with 9:37 on the clock in the first quarter.
The Prairie Fire countered with a nine-play, 77-yard scoring drive to knot the game 7-7.
Although Beloit's next drive was a three-and-out, the special teams came up big as Casillas' punt was fumbled and recovered by
Genesis Solomon at the Beloit 47-yard line. Facing a fourth and three at the KC 46, Alvarez went back to his favorite target, Reyes, for an eight yard gain and a Buc first down. The Bucs ran two plays before the end of the quarter and started the second with a penalty flag. A false start pushed Beloit back to the Knox 45 making it third and 17. Alvarez hit
Tyler Assiff for an initial 12-yard completion bringing up the Bucs' second fourth down on the drive. Beloit continued to be aggressive opting to go for it and it paid off in a big way. Alvarez connected with Reyes for a 33-yard touchdown strike and Casillas' point after gave Beloit the 14-7 lead.
Once again Knox had the response going 89 yards in nine plays in the next drive to tie the game 14-14. The Prairie Fire offense exploded for 21 more points in the quarter to take a 35-14 lead into halftime.
Beloit's special teams forced another fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half but this time Knox recovered. The defense held forcing a three-and-out and the Bucs got the ball back after the KC punt was downed at Beloit's 35 but the drive was cut short by an Prairie Fire interception that was returned for a touchdown to make it 42-14.
The Bucs refused to fold putting together a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Say's seven-yard TD catch with 1:44 left in the third to make it 42-21.
Knox tallied the final score of the game, a field goal in the fourth for the final.
Alvarez was 17-41 with 208 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Say accumulated 53 yards on the ground to lead Beloit's rushing game. Young averaged nearly eight yards a carry gaining 31 yards on four attempts.
Reyes was Alvarez' top target of the game with 142 yards on nine receptions and two TD catches.
Defensively, Prikhodko led the Bucs with seven tackles including two for a loss of seven yards and a forced fumble.
Ben Jensen and
James Miranda each added seven tackles to the team total in the game.
Up Next: The Bucs will host the University of Chicago for Beloit's duing Beloit's annual Homecoming festivities Saturday, October 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
