GRINNELL, Iowa – It was a back-and-forth tussle between the Grinnell College football team and Lake Forest in the early going.
 
But the Foresters put together a big second quarter on its way to a 53-13 victory Saturday afternoon at Rosenbloom Field.
 
Grinnell's defense responded in the second half of the game, shutting down all four Forester drives and allowing no points.
 
The Pioneers jumped on the board immediately, taking the opening kickoff and driving 81 yards in 11 plays before Tony Bergida '18 hit Zach McGriff '17 with a 10-yard touchdown strike in the right side of the end zone. It was McGriff's first score of the year.
 
During the drive, Bergida also passed 17 yards to Carson Dunn '18 and 14 yards to Erik Henderson '19 before the TD toss with 8:55 left in the first period. Ibuki Ogasawara '18 kicked the point after for a 7-0 edge.
 
Grinnell got the ball back just two players later when Ryan Slager '19 recovered a fumble at the Lake Forest 21-yard line. However, the Pioneers couldn't convert it into a score.
 
Lake Forest followed with three unanswered touchdowns to lead 20-7. Grinnell then went to work, taking just four plays to score as Bergida hit Henderson with a 23-yard pass and Jacob Bernholtz '17 ran for 11 and 21 yards.
 
Bergida then hit David Taylor '20 with a 10-yard scoring strike to make it 20-13 with 13:10 left in the half. The point after was no good.
 
However, Lake Forest closed out the period with five touchdowns to take command.
 
Bernholtz rushed 19 times for 148 yards, while Bergida completed 13-of-26 passes for 119 yards. Henderson, Taylor and Dunn all had three catches for 44, 37 and 17 yards, respectively.
 
Defensively, Slager finished with 15 tackles and Hassan Thompson '19 had nine including four for loss. Vinny Pavoni '19 and DJ Coleman '19 had six stops apiece.
 
Grinnell finishes its campaign next Saturday when Cornell College visits Rosenbloom Field. Action on Senior Day starts at noon.