GALESBURG, Illinois - It was almost the exact homecoming game that an alum could ask for, but the Prairie Fire fell just short. In a home matchup against the Illinois College Blueboys the Knox College football team (1-5, 1-3 MWC) lost 35-28.
 
The Fire found themselves down 14-0 with 10 minutes left in the first and things were looking gloomy, but the purple and gold refused to go down easily. After the second IC score, Matt McCaffrey (Wilmette, IL, New Trier) marched the Fire down the field and scored on a 14-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 14-7 and Knox was threatening.
 
The Blueboys attempted to pull away, scoring their third touchdown of the day to go up 21-7. However, the Fire were determined to keep it close heading into halftime. With just over 30 seconds left, McCaffrey completed a pass to Patrick Marzolino (Orange, CA, El Modena) for a 3-yard touchdown to make the score 21-14 going into the half.
 
The play of the day came in the opening of the second half when the Prairie Fire defense forced a 3-and-out on the Blueboys. On the ensuing punt, Dalton James (Homer, IL, Heritage) took the kick back 92 yards for a touchdown to even up the score 21-21.
 
A touchdown and missed extra point later in the quarter made the score 27-21 IC, but yet again the Fire refused to go down without a fight. Both defenses held strong until just over 5 minutes left in the 4th when IC scored the game deciding touchdown and two-point conversion to go up 35-21. Knox tried to make it interesting with a hefty drive and an eventual 6-yard rushing touchdown by James for his second score of the game. However, the Fire were not able to knot up the score late in the game and the final score fell 35-28 in favor of Illinois College.
 
The Fire will look to get back on pace next week when they take on the Cornell College Rams in Mount Vernon. Iowa.