GALESBURG, Illinois—The Prairie Fire football team fell to the Cornell College by a final score of 31-21 today at the Knosher Bowl.
 
The first quarter got off to a relatively quiet start, with both teams failing to gain many yards on their opening drives and trading punts. Towards the end of the first quarter, however, Cornell managed to drive most of the field, with the drive culminating in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Isaak Hahn to Mason Davis, who would be a pain in the side of the Prairie Fire defense for much of the game. He would finish the game with two catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 65 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown.
 
In the second quarter, Knox gained a first down on their first drive but turned the ball over on downs following a failed fourth down conversion. The next play, Hahn hit Davis for a spurious 47 yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone. After trading punts, the Prairie Fire put together an impressive drive comprised of crisp passing by Grant Graham, with Derrick Jackson capping it off with a powerful one-yard touchdown run. A defensive stop gave Knox the ball back with only 1:34 left in the half. Driving down the field very efficiently behind Graham's passing again, Hunter Lee caught an impressive ball falling backwards in the end zone to level up the game at 14-a-side. Only taking 48 seconds to drive 88 yards, it seemed like Knox had stolen the momentum of the game entering the half.
 
The Prairie Fire again put together an impressive drive to start out in the second half, but failed to convert a field goal attempt and came away empty in terms of points. Knox's defense stopped Cornell dead in their tracks on the next drive, forcing a fumble and giving themselves good field position in the process. After punting the ball away, the Rams put together a 96-yard drive that saw Mason Davis score on a nine-yard run to the right side of the field. Disaster struck when a Knox miscue on the ensuing kickoff resulted in a Cornell touchdown, creating a two score deficit in the blink of an eye. 
 
The fourth quarter began with a Cornell field goal to end a Ram drive that began in the third quarter. Not to be deterred, Knox answered right back, with a two-yard Joey Auger run making the deficit a much more manageable ten points. Unfortunately, the Prairie Fire could not make any more noise on offense, as Cornell starting chewing clock and creating very few opportunities for Knox to come back into the game. A late Graham interception sealed their fate, and the Prairie Fire fell.
 
Lee grabbed eight catches for 164 yards and a score. Grant Graham completed 17-of-41 passes for 297 yards and a touchdown. Ean Rau led the Knox defense with 11 tackles and a forced fumble. Caleb Spinks added seven tackles and a sack.
 
"It was good to see our team get the score tied up as we went into the half," said head coach Damon Tomeo. "A few back-to-back miscues in the second half were too great to overcome however."
 
The Prairie Fire look forward towards next week when they travel down the road for their season finale 131st Annual Turkey Bowl game against Monmouth College at 1:00 p.m.