GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire allowed two first quarter scores and struggled to come back with points in a 27-6 loss to Lake Forest College in the Homecoming football game on Saturday at Stisser Field at the Knosher Bowl.

The Foresters got on the board quickly in the first Midwest Conference South Division game for both squads.  Knox fumbled the opening kickoff and Lake Forest scored on its first play of the game, a 13-yard run by Charlie Quinn for a 6-0 lead.

The Prairie Fire fumbled again on their second possession, and the Foresters made the hosts pay again.  Lake Forest capped a five-play, 64 yard drive with a 3-yard run by Quinn to extend the lead to 13-0 less than four minutes into the game.

Knox (2-3, 0-1 MWC South) came back with a 16-play, 48 yard drive that consumed more than seven minutes and resulted in a 42-yard field goal by first-year kicker Drake Sykes (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) to trim the deficit to 13-3 with 4:09 left in the first quarter.

Lake Forest (2-3, 1-0 MWC South) put together its biggest scoring drive of the game following an excellent punt by Sykes that pinned the Foresters back on their own nine yard line.  Lake Forest marched 91 yards down the field in 16 plays, taking 10:28 off the clock in the process, and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run by Sam Mulford to press ahead 20-3.

The Prairie Fire had a chance to score on back-to-back fumbles by the Foresters in their own territory with 2:07 and again with 22 seconds left in the second quarter, but the Lake Forest defense held both times.

Lake Forest coughed the football up again on its first possession of the second half.  Knox got the ball back and drove to the LFC 10-yard line, but couldn't punch it in the end zone.  Sykes connected on a 27-yard field goal to cut the Forester lead to 20-6 with 8:34 to go in the third quarter.

The Prairie Fire forced two straight punts by Lake Forest and appeared poised to score again after moving the ball to the LFC 23 yard line.  The eight-play, 59 yard drive by Knox stalled with an incomplete pass on fourth down and three.

The Foresters came back with a 49-yard run by Quinn to the Prairie Fire 28 yard line on the first play.  Knox stiffened up and had Lake Forest in a fourth down and seven at the Knox 25 when Lake Forest quarterback Anthoney Prestly ran for a nine yard gain.  Quinn followed with a 16-yard touchdown run, his third score of the game, with 6:34 left to give the Foresters a 27-6 lead.

Lake Forest finished with 360 yards of offense, including 269 on the ground.  Knox had 279 total yards with 196 coming through the air.  First-year quarterback Matt Mc Caffrey (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) was 23-of-37 passing.

Prairie Fire junior wide receiver Ilir Emini (Yorkville, IL, Yorkville) caught 15 passes for 104 yards.  He tied the school record for most catches in a game set by John Durocher during the 1981 season against Cornell College.  Junior Mathew Hemmingsen (Galesburg, IL, Carl Sandburg College) added five catches for 52 yards and junior Jordan Zanger (Quincy, IL, Quincy) had three for 40, including a 27 yard reception.

Lake Forest held the Knox ground game to 83 yards.  First-year Terry White (Hillsdale, IL, Riverdale) carried the ball 14 times for 65 yards to lead the Prairie Fire in rushing.

Defensively, Knox senior Will Ruzicka (St. Louis, MO, St. Mary's) had a game-high 11 tackles – including one for a loss – and a forced fumble.  Senior Armand Stricklin (Lee's Summit, MO, Lee's Summit West) forced and recovered a fumble, junior Sam Coffey (Winnetka, IL, New Trier) had seven tackles and a fumble recovery, senior Nick Bock (Twin Lakes, WI, Antioch) forced a fumble, and sophomore Beau Gabel (Bourbonnais, IL, Bishop McNamara) recovered a fumble for the Prairie Fire.

Knox will try to shake a two-game losing streak next Saturday at Cornell College.  The kickoff is at 2:00 p.m.  The Rams (3-1, 1-0 MWC South) won 35-17 at Grinnell College on Saturday, their third straight victory.