GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College's football team played toe-to-toe with Illinois College Saturday afternoon, but turnovers spelled doom as the Blueboys came away with a 30-7 victory at Rosenbloom Field.
 
The Pioneers held an 11-minute edge on the Blueboys in time of possession, but gave up the ball six times while dropping to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the Midwest Conference. Illinois College is 3-1 in league play and 4-4 in all games.
 
Illinois College led 3-0 after one quarter and was up just 10-0 in the second frame when the Pioneers made some noise, driving all the way to the Blueboys' 12-yard line before fumbling away the ball. Connor Headrick '21 hit Max Hill '20 with a 20-yard pass to highlight the drive.
 
It remained 10-0 through halftime before the Blueboys scored twice in the third frame for a 24-0 edge.
 
Grinnell got on the board after that with an 18-play, 79-yard drive. Carson Dunn '18 had seven rushes on the drive, which ended with Tony Bergida '18 hitting Trent Mayfield '21 with a 21-yard scoring pass with 10:23 left in the game. Anaan Ramay's '20 extra point kick made it 24-7.
 
Grinnell kept its fans on their feet right after that, as Ramay's onside kick was recovered by Ben Lim '19. The Pioneers drove as deep as the Illinois College 27 before giving up the ball on downs, and the Blueboys countered with a 71-yard touchdown pass to all but put the game away.
 
Bergida completed 16-of-25 passes for 106 yards, while Dunn had nine catches for 45 yards and David Taylor '20 made five catches for 26 yards.
 
The nation's leading tackler, Ryan Slager '19, had a game-high 15 stops including a fumble recovery. Lim added six tackles, while Jordan Hall '20 and Jeff Keele '19 had five each. Lim, Hall and Keele all forced fumbles, while Lim and Keele also had fumble recoveries.
 
The Pioneers travel to Mount Vernon next Saturday to face Cornell College. Action begins at 1 p.m.