JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Grinnell College struck first blood in its Midwest Conference football battle with Illinois College Saturday before the hosts rallied for a 50-14 win.
 
The Pioneers had a big rushing game from Carson Dunn '18, who had 114 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown. Tony Bergida '18 passed for 142 yards on 17-of-35 completions.
 
Dunn, Erik Henderson '19 and Zach McGriff '18 all had five catches.
 
Defensively, Ryan Slager '19 posted 15 tackles and Max Hill '20 added 10. Hill also had a fumble recovery and Riley Drexler '17 a forced fumble.
 
Grinnell scored on the opening drive of the game, putting together a 12-play, 82-yard series. Bergida completed a 25-yard pass to Dunn on the drive, which also included a 13-yard run by the quarterback.
 
Bergida then ran 15 yards for the touchdown, and Ibuki Ogasawara '17 added the point after for a 7-0 edge with 8:28 to go in the opening period.
 
The Blueboys led 34-7 at halftime and 43-7 after three periods.
 
Grinnell's last score came with 8:10 left in the game on Dunn's 1-yard run. Dunn had runs of 15, 12 and 11 yards on the drive, and Bergida passed 10 yards to Henderson. After the touchdown, Ogasawara kicked the extra point.
 
Grinnell is now 0-3 in the MWC and 0-5 overall, while Illinois College moved to 2-1 in the league and 3-2 in all games.