BELOIT, Wisconsin- The Prairie Fire dropped their final game of the year with a 24-21 loss in a tough battle with Beloit College. Knox finishes the year with a 3-7 record after the loss, improving from the previous season.
The Bucs started the scoring with a touchdown in the first quarter. However the Prairie Fire were able to come back with a touchdown pass from
Matt McCaffrey (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) to
Tallen McWilliams (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) in the second quarter. That touchdown started a scoring frenzy with Beloit scoring on both their drives in the quarter and Knox scoring on one of their next two. The Bucs went up 17-7 at one point after a three and out by Knox allowed them to score a field goal after a touchdown on the previous drive. Knox was able to bring the score to 17-14 at halftime after McCaffrey found
Ilir Emini (Yorkville, IL, Yorkville) for a touchdown with two seconds left in the half. After a 16-play drive resulted in no points for the Prairie Fire to open the second half, they were able to force a turnover and regain possession.
Armand Stricklin (Lee's Summit, MO, Lee's Summit West) picked off the Bucs quarterback at the 38 yard line to give the ball back to the offense. The Fire then only took five plays to find the endzone on a pass from McCaffrey to
Mathew Hemmingsen (Galesburg, IL, Carl Sandburg College). The Bucs opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive and a three and out by Knox led to the final score of 24-21 in favor of Beloit.
McCaffrey threw for 111 yards and three touchdowns in the game and
Jared Zanger (Quincy, IL, Quincy) led the team in rushing with 14 attempts for 98 yards. Emini led the Fire in receiving with 11 catches for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Patrick Marzolino (Orange, CA, El Modena) added 3 catches for 31 yards as well. On the defensive end,
Sam Coffey (Winnetka, IL, New Trier) recorded 12 tackles on the day, 6 solo and 6 assisted.
Evan Economos (Urbandale, IA, Urbandale) and
Cody Hipp (Crown Point, IN, Crown Point) each added 8 tackles as well.
Knox finishes the season at 3-7 and will look to continue their improvement next year.
