Prairie Fire burn Vikes

Jon Mays

The Lawrence University football squad lost another closely contested conference game this past Saturday against Knox College. The game was close throughout and Lawrence battled hard, but failed to pull it out in the end.
The Vikings never led during the game, but their largest deficit was only nine points. The Vikings offense played well, but the defense could not contain the Prairie Fire running attack as they rushed for a total of 377 yards on 64 carries. Knox’s leading rusher on the day was Bill Meyer, who gained 139 yards on 21 carries.
The first score of the game came early in the second quarter after freshman Mike Kizior rushed 55-yards to the Lawrence 7-yard line. Lawrence countered on the next possession when senior quarterback Nick Maxam found senior Craig Ebert for a 32-yard scoring pass. The extra point failed, and Knox held the lead at 7-6. Ebert had a big day on the ground as well, rushing 21 times for 108 yards. It was his second consecutive 100-yard game.
The Prairie Fire (2-5, 1-5 MWC) opened the game up for a while before halftime, scoring two touchdowns and making the score 21-6. Kizior scored the first touchdown on an 8-yard run capping an eight-play, 58-yard drive. Their next score was a 35-yard touchdown pass from Bill Meyer to Evan Massey with just under two minutes left in the half.
However, the Vikings answered with a great two-minute drill that ended in a ten-yard touchdown pass from Maxam to junior Matt Hintz. The Vikings two-point conversion failed and the score at halftime was 21-12.
The score stayed that way until just under three-minutes left in the third quarter, when freshman Zach Hintz scored on a 7-yard touchdown run. The score was set up by three big running plays. With the ensuing extra point the touchdown made the score 21-19 in favor of Knox.
Lawrence (0-6, 0-6) gave Knox great field possession early in the fourth quarter after failing on a fake punt attempt. The Prairie Fire took over on the Lawrence 5-yard line and scored on five plays. Grant Guimond ran it in from 1-yard out to make the Prairie Fire lead 28-19.
Lawrence countered again on their next possession. Big pass completions to senior Derek Micke and freshman John Bruehl set up another Maxam touchdown pass to Matt Hintz. The Vikings failed on the extra point attempt, keeping it a three-point game.
Micke finished the game as the Vikings top receiver, catching five passes for 71 yards. Maxam threw three touchdowns, and completed 11 of 20 passes for 180 yards.
The Lawrence defense was unable to get the ball back and give the offense a chance at winning the game for the Vikings. Knox held the ball for the final six minutes of the game to close out the victory. The final score was 28-25.
The Vikings play again Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Banta Bowl against Beloit.