Sangamon Sun

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College football team opened the 2024 home portion of the season with a 44-14 win over Ripon in a Midwest Conference contest on Saturday at England Stadium.

The win improved Illinois College to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league while Ripon dropped to 1-2 and 1-1.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Blueboys got on the board when Collin Brunstein hauled in a 1-yard pass from Destin Chance. Toby McTamney made the first of his five PATs to make it 7-0.

The Illinois College defense contributed to the scoring when Cam Dailey rumbled 56 yards with a fumble recovery to make it 14-0 with 7:28 to play. The Blueboy special teams added the next score when Zechariah Wease returned a blocked punt seven yards for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and Illinois College was up 20-0.

After a Ripon touchdown made the halftime score 20-7, Illinois College opened the second half scoring when Chance scrambled 12 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-7. McTamney added a field goal before Ripon scored again to make it 30-14.

Illinois College responded quickly when Timo Kato sprinted 89 yards for a touchdown to make it 37-14. The Blueboys closed out the scoring when Trey Birdsong latched on to another pass from Chance.

Illinois College is on a bye week before traveling to Monmouth on October 5th for a game scheduled at 2 p.m.

###