Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – An explosive fourth-quarter comeback propelled the Grinnell College football team to a 21-18 victory over Knox College Saturday afternoon in Midwest Conference South Division play.
The Pioneers, who trailed 10-0 at halftime and also at the end of the third quarter, erupted for 21 consecutive fourth-quarter points to improve to 1-2 in the division and 2-5 in all games. Knox fell to 0-3 in the MWC South and 2-5 overall.
Grinnell got its scoring going in the fourth period after taking over on its own 16. The Pioneers promptly put together a 15-play, 84-yard scoring drive that included rushes of 11 and 10 yards by
Sam Poulos '16. Poulos finished off the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.
Graham Fisher's '16 extra point made it 10-7 with 7:39 left in the game.
The Pioneers took over deep in Knox territory on their next drive, and Poulos ran for 13 yards on first down. Two plays later,
Jacob Bernholtz '17 ran for a 1-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, leaving Grinnell with a 13-10 lead with 5:57 to go.
Grinnell's defense stepped up big on the next drive, as
David Ternes '15 picked off a pass and raced 48 yards for a score at the 3:41 mark.
TJ Jones '17 passed to
Jacob Meixler '15 for the two-pointer, pushing the Pioneers ahead 21-10.
Knox managed a TD and two-pointer after that to close the gap to three points. But the Pioneers shut down the hosts after that when
Richard Renteria '15 scooped up a Knox fumble and raced 41 yards deep into Prairie Fire territory late in the game.
Poulos completed 17-of-25 passes for 140 yards, while Bernholtz rushed for 59.
Zach McGriff '18 had five catches, while
Greg Ruzich '16,
Carson Dunn '18 and Bernholtz each caught four.
Ternes had 14 tackles, including 11 solos, to up his career total to 376 which is four behind Brett Maloney's mark that ranks second in school history. Lee Kraemer is the program leader with 433 between 1988 and 1991.
Daniel Munger '15 added 12 tackles and
Richard Renteria '15 had seven.
The Pioneers entertain Monmouth College next Saturday at Rosenbloom Field. Game time is 1 p.m.
