(ST. NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS, LAWRENCE COMMUNICATIONS/WNFL) – LISLE, Ill. – St. Norbert College registered seven takeaways en route to a 14-0 win over Benedictine University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Benedictine Sports Complex..
St. Norbert took advantage of some Benedictine largesse in the first quarter, when a wild center snap was recovered on the Eagles’ 2-yard line by Brett Boelkow. The Green Knights scored on third-and-goal from the 1 when Peyton Lyon scored unmolested on a bootleg with 9:29 left in the period.
Benedictine would drive to the St. Norbert 22 early in the second quarter but the Green Knights held on fourth down. St. Norbert would move to the Benedictine 31 before eventually punting to the host’s 2-yard line. Two plays later, Boelkow jumped an out route and returned an interception of an Evan Wydajewski pass four yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 6:33 left in the second quarter.
A quick-moving third quarter resulted in just two possessions for St. Norbert and one for Benedictine. The Eagles advanced to the St. Norbert 21 on their possession, but again the Green Knights held on downs.
A Benedictine drive to the St. Norbert 30 was stopped by a Boelkow interception with 6:40 left, returned to the St. Norbert 41. The Green Knights lost a fumble four plays later, but it was Boelkow who again stopped a Benedictine scoring opportunity with an interception at the St. Norbert 25 returned to its 46. St. Norbert ran three plays and punted with 1:40 to go. The Eagles would move from their own 12 to the St. Norbert 17 before Thomas recorded his second interception of the day to close out the shutout.
Benedictine outgained St. Norbert 268-176, with 113 of the Eagles’ yards coming in the fourth quarter. Patrick Oden had 82 rushing yards on 23 carries, while Lyon was 10-for-15 with 94 yards and one interception. Paul Bageanis had three receptions for 37 yards.
Wydajewski completed 16 of 32 passes for 220 yards and four interceptions for Benedictine. The Eagles finished with 48 rushing yards.
Boelkow’s three interceptions marked just the eighth time in St. Norbert history a player has recorded at least that many in one game. Boelkow, who had five tackles, had four total takeaways. Thomas had two interceptions. Kyle Santos had a team-high 11 tackles, while Sam Barnett added 10 stops and David Haselwander eight tackles.
It was just 7-0 after the opening quarter, but the Foresters (5-0, 4-0 MWC) exploded for 34 second-quarter points to pull away.
Lawrence was limited to just 168 total yards by the Foresters, who compiled 457 yards of offense on the afternoon.
Lawrence quarterback Aidan Williams was limited to 11-of-24 passing for 131 yards and three interceptions. Lawrence receiver Alex Lippert again proved he is among the top receivers in the region as he shook loose of the Lake Forest defense to catch six passes for 111 yards.
Kolbe Gelvin paced the Lawrence defense with seven tackles and a pass breakup, and Matt Cramblit had an interception, a pair of pass breakups and a forced fumble. Defensive lineman Carter Rivers recorded a sack and recovered a fumble to go with a pair of blocked extra points. Rivers tied his own Lawrence game record of two blocked kicks in a game.
Lawrence trailed 7-0 but was driving at the start of the second quarter, but Williams’ fourth-down pass was ruled incomplete in the end zone. Lake Forest then scored on its next three possessions to pull out to a 28-0 lead. Later in the quarter, Lake Forest got an interception return for a touchdown and sixth-year senior A.J. Jackson’s punt return set up the final score of the half as Lake Forest led 41-0 at the break.
Lawrence put together a good drive midway through the third quarter as the Vikings moved 75 yards in 13 plays for a score. The big play was a 30-yard completion to Lippert at the Lake Forest 11-yard line. Lawrence had first-and-goal at the Lake Forest one-yard line, but it took four plays from there to score. Williams plunged in from a yard out on fourth down for Lawrence’s only touchdown of the game.
Lake Forest quarterback Joshua Gasca was 11-for-18 passing for 195 yards and an interception, and the prolific Jackson finished with just 28 yards rushing and 64 receiving yards.
Lawrence returns to action next Saturday when the Vikings travel to Beloit College.
WIAC scores
UW-Oshkosh 34, UW-La Crosse 33
UW-Platteville 28, UW-River Falls 7
UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point 0
UW-Stout 29, UW-Whitewater 27
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