Blueboys wallop Grinnell, match school record for wins in a season
Michael Bates threw four touchdown passes to Brock Thompson and Illinois College matched the school record for wins in a season on Saturday with a 48-16 win over Grinnell College at England Stadium in Jacksonville.
Bates threw for 438 yards and Thompson caught 11 passes for 214 yards, while the Blueboy defense limited Grinnell to less than 300 yards of total offense in the victory.
"We are very excited about winning our eighth game of the season, but we've got one more goal -- to break the school record for wins in a season," said Illinois College head football coach Garrett Campbell. "If our kids prepare as well as they did this week, I like our chances."
Ryan Jefferson put Illinois College on the scoreboard first, with a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Bates followed with a 25-yard touchdown run, before hooking up with Thompson on scoring plays of 3, 80, 5 and 41 yards. Cecil Brimmage, who ran for a team-high 144 yards, added a 15-yard TD run between Bates' second and third touchdown passes to Thompson.
Illinois College racked up a season-high total of 655 yards of total offense, while the Blueboy defense held Grinnell to just 274 yards. The IC defense forced two Grinnell turnovers as Eric Fisher and Dylan DeFauw both tallied interceptions. DeFauw led the Blueboys with eight tackles. Fisher, DeFauw and Tim Denney had two passes broken up each. Anthony Odarczenko recorded a QB sack.
Illinois College improved to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the Midwest Conference with the win. IC guaranteed itself a second-place finish in the MWC with the win. The Blueboys finish off the regular-season schedule with a home game against Beloit College at 1 p.m. in Jacksonville next Saturday.
