The Lawrence football team took
an 0-3 record into its Saturday, Oct.
3 game against the Illinois College
Blueboys, who came into the game
with a 2-1 record.
Things started off slowly for the
Vikings, as the Blueboys put three
touchdowns on the board before
Lawrence could score. However, the
Vikings refused to give up, as senior
Lucas Below punched in a 1-yard
touchdown run with six minutes left
in the second quarter.
The celebration in the Banta Bowl
was short-lived, as Illinois quarterback
Mitch Neikamp threw his fourth
touchdown pass of the first half only
four minutes later.
The second half started well
for the Vikings as senior quarterback
Nick Maxam led his team
to the Illinois College 1-yard line,
but Maxam’s fourth-and-1 rushing
attempt was stymied by the Illinois
defense, as was the Vikings’ attempt
to capitalize on a fumble by Illinois
punt returner DJ Jackson later in the
quarter.
The score remained at 28-7 until
senior Matt Frelich intercepted a
pass and returned it for a touchdown,
cutting the Illinois lead to
28-13 after a Cody Robel extra point
attempt was blocked.
The fourth quarter started and
the Blueboys connected on their fifth
and final touchdown pass, but the
Vikings were not done scoring.
With seven minutes left, Nick
Maxam connected on a 57-yard
bomb to freshman Nate Nelson for
the Vikings’ third touchdown of the
day. After the Vikings missed their
two-point conversion attempt, the
score stood at 35-19, which would
hold up as neither team could put
together another scoring drive.
Even a 16-point loss was cause
for optimism for the Vikings, whose
19 points in the losing effort bettered
their current season total by
13. Junior offensive tackle Kaushal
Malde said, “We made substantial
improvements as a team, but we still
have a long way to go.”
The Vikings have a chance to
improve their conference record
Saturday when they travel to face
the 0-4 Lake Forest Foresters.
LU Football puts points on the board
