Box Scores
Beloit College ran for five touchdowns during its Homecoming game and defeated the Prairie Fire 42-7 in a Midwest Conference game Saturday at Strong Stadium in Beloit, Wisconsin.
The Prairie Fire defense got off to a good start when sophomore safety Kyle Brubaker (Glenview, Illinois) intercepted a pass thrown by Beloit quarterback Brian Maughn, ending the first Buccaneer drive of the game in a turnover with 12:13 in the first quarter.
Knox couldn't take advantage of the Beloit miscue, going three and out and punting the ball away. The Buccaneers turned a short punt that allowed them to start their next possession on Knox 30 yard line into a seven-play drive that ended with Dillon Hess scoring on a 4-yard run with 7:30 left in the first quarter to put his team on top 7-0 after a successful PAT kick.
Knox couldn't do much on its second drive either, running three plays for a net loss of four yards and a punt. Beloit put together 7-play, 54-yard drive that ended when Hess found Anthony Christiansen from eight yards out for a touchdown with 3:40 to go in the first quarter and a 14-0 lead after the PAT kick by Mat Kahl split the uprights.
The Buccaneers added one more score in the first half - a 2-yard touchdown run by Raymond Thomas - to go up 21-0 at halftime. Two more TDs in the third quarter by Beloit put the game out of reach. Hess scored the touchdowns – both on 1-yard runs (7:51, :55) that gave the hosts a 35-0 lead. Hess had a huge game, throwing for 113 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 37 yards and three more scores.
The Buccaneers scored their final touchdown with 3:51 to play in the game on a 2-yard run by Nolan Byrom that capped off a 6-play, 63 yard drive that spanned a little over 2:30.
Knox finally got on the board with its biggest play of the season. Back-up first-year quarterback Drew Diaz (Niles, Illinois) hit fellow first-year receiver Zach Belk (Peoria, Illinois) with a 65-yard scoring pass with 2:23 to go in the game to avoid the shutout. The three-play drive took 1:28 and sophomore kicker Doug Lillibridge (Byron, Illinois) made the point-after attempt to account for the final score.
The pass to Belk was the only throw by Diaz, which accounted for more than half of the Prairie Fire's 112 yards in the game.
Starting QB, senior Bill Meyer (Cary-Grove, Illinois), struggled against the Beloit pass defense. He finished 6-of-21 for 26 yards, threw one interception and was sacked twice. Sophomore Mike Pinter (Naples, Florida) was 0-for-3 after spelling Meyer at quarterback. The three Fire signal-callers combined to go 7-of-25 for 91 yards.
Knox also struggled to run the ball against the stingy Beloit defense, managing just 21 yards on 30 rushing attempts. Senior Dan Kizior (Manteno, Illinois) had 12 carries for 26 yards.
Beloit had 473 total yards of offense against Knox. The Bucs ran the ball 37 times for 157 yards and scored five touchdowns.
Quarterbacks Maughn and Hess combined to go 24-of-36 for 316 yards with one TD and two interceptions, both thrown by Maughn. Brubaker picked off his second pass for Knox with 14:02 left in the game.
There were some bright spots defensively for the Prairie Fire.
Junior defensive end Elliot Madison (Holden, Massachusetts) recorded two sacks in the game -- the first for the Knox defense so far this season -- to go along with five tackles. Brubaker added a team-high eight tackles to go along with his two picks. Making his second start at inside linebacker, first-year player Tom Discher (Woodstock, Illinois) was solid, matching Brubaker's eight tackles. Junior outside linebacker Tony Sickley (LaSalle, Illinois) contributed a sack and made six stops for Knox.
The Prairie Fire's youth, despite the lopsided losses, is getting valuable game experience that will eventually pay dividends later. Six first-year players started the game for Knox and 10 of the 22 starters against the Buccaneers were underclassmen. Only seven seniors started the game for the Fire compared to 11 for Beloit, which was in a similar position a few years ago and had its first winning season last year (6-4) since 2002. The Prairie Fire is also seeking its first winning campaign since '02.
Knox plays its second home game October 2 against undefeated Ripon College. The kick-off from the Knosher Bowl is scheduled at 1:00 p.m.
The Red Hawks (4-0, 3-0 MWC), with its outstanding rushing attack, find themselves alone in first place in the Midwest Conference after pulling out a 27-24 overtime win at home Saturday against Carroll University (3-1, 2-1 MWC) despite five fumbles. Ripon won the game on a 25-yard field goal in the extra period.
