Vikings lose lead in second half

The Lawrence University football team let yet another close game get away in the second half this past Saturday against Lake Forest College at the Banta Bowl. The Vikings held the lead at the end of the first half, but that lead slipped away nearly immediately after the second half began.
Lawrence (0-5, 0-5 MWC) turned the ball over inside the Foresters (2-3, 2-3) 20-yard line on their first two possessions of the game, and one of those turnovers led to a Lake Forest touchdown. That touchdown came on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Geoff Sobey to Brock Stenberg and gave the Foresters a 7-0 lead.
The Vikings answered with a long scoring play of their own in the second quarter when running back senior Craig Ebert broke open a 59-yard touchdown run. The Foresters blocked the extra point to hold their lead at 7-6. Ebert had a career day, running for a career-high 169 yards on only 15 carries.
The Vikings would not take long to take over the lead, however, marching the ball down the field to the Forester’s 2-yard line before being forced into a field goal by freshman Peter Mohr, making the score 9-7 in favor of Lawrence.
The Vikings nearly scored again right before halftime when freshman Jon Bruehl caught a short pass from senior quarterback Nick Maxam and ran all the way down to the Lake Forest 6-yard line before finally being brought down. Unfortunately, that momentum would not carry into the second half.
The second play of the second half ended in a touchdown for the Foresters when Stenberg scored on a 57-yard run up the middle.
Lawrence’s next possession once again ended inside the Forester’s 20-yard line when Maxam’s fourth-down pass to sophomore Jeremiah Johnson was ruled incomplete. The Vikings converted only twice out of seven attempts inside the Forester’s red zone.
Lake Forest once again scored in only two plays on their following possession when Dan Carter caught a 78-yard touchdown pass, extending their lead to 20-9.
Two out of the Viking’s next three drives ended inside the Forester’s 20-yard line; two of those drives ended on failed fourth-down conversions, and one ended in a fumble. The defense would hold after all three turnovers, and Lawrence drove once again into the red zone and this time settled for another Mohr field goal.
The field goal made it a one-possession game with the score 20-12 and just over six minutes remaining.
The Viking defense gave Lawrence a chance to tie the game and force overtime when they stopped Lake Forest on their following possession. However, Lawrence’s potential game-tying drive ended when Maxam’s pass was intercepted on a tipped ball with just over a minute left in the game.
Lawrence heads to Knox College this weekend in search of their first victory of the season.