The Aurora University Spartans defeated the Lake Forest Foresters on Saturday at Vago Field 14-7 on a majestic afternoon in which the Spartan football program hosted Support the Troops Day and also honored AFCA/NCAA RESPECT Weekend prior to kickoff.
Spartans defense set the tone early in the contest, holding the Foresters to three total yards on only nine plays in the scoreless first period.
But the Foresters struck first on the scoreboard with 5:40 to play in the first-half with a 19-yard touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Dan Carter from junior quarterback Geoff Sobey. The touchdown culminated a nine play, 88-yard drive that lasted just over four minutes.
The Spartans answered back, two drives later after the Spartan defense forced a Forester fumble. Senior (D3football.com preseason second-team all-american) defensive end Pat Funk forced the fumble that was recovered by senior defensive lineman Ray Boro deep in Lake Forest territory.
Five plays later, when junior quarterback Mike Anderson threw a five-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Evan Hackbarth to tie the game at 7.
Both teams went into halftime with the score tied 7-7. The first half saw eight punts, five by the Foresters. In the first half, the Spartans out gained the visitors 221 to 102 and both teams had two turnovers apiece.
The final scoring of the afternoon came on the Spartans fourth drive of the quarter, which was set up by a 21-yard punt return by sophomore Brandon Trujillo to the Lake Forest 34-yard line.
The Spartans carried the momentum from the return and on the sixth play of the drive, Anderson followed his offensive line for a one-yard score, giving the Spartans a 14-7 lead.
After forcing Lake Forest to punt with 11 minutes to play in the game, Trujillo brought the packed house to its feet with what looked like a 94-yard punt return for a score that would have solidified the Spartan victory. But an illegal block in the back brought the return all the way back to the Spartans 10-yard line.
The defenses stood firm and both teams traded punts when Lake Forest took advantage of a special teams miscue by Spartan freshman defensive back Sebastian Ross with 3:42 to play in the ball game.
Ross touched a Forester punt in Spartan territory (43-yard line) and the Foresters looked as if they had taken control of the momentum.
But two plays later and three minutes left in the game, the Boro brothers, senior twins, Alex and Ray caused and recovered a fumble that changed momentum back onto the Spartan side. Alex, the defensive lineman stripped the ball and his brother Ray, a linebacker recovered it for the Spartans.
The Spartans drive stalled and sophomore punter Caleb Cook pinned the Foresters deep in their own end at the 15 yard line with with 1:49 remaining.
The Foresters methodically ran 14 plays down to the AU 14-yard line but a Sobey pass to Carter with ten seconds to play saw Carter stopped in bounds by junior defensive back Jimmy Fierro and time ran out.
On the day, AU’s Anderson finished with 251 yards on 18-of-32 passing, one touchdown and three interceptions. Senior linebacker Mike Budzinski had 11 tackles and one-half quarterback sack, Fierro had nine tackles and one pass break-up and Ray Boro had six tackles and two fumble recoveries.
The Foresters were led Carter’s 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, Sobey was 17-of-35 for 167 yards, one touchdown and one interception, senior linebacker Chad Zimborski had 11 tackles and one interception junior linebacker, Anthony Garetto had 10 tackles and senior defensive back Lorenzo Ramirez had two interceptions.
The Spartans improved to 1-0 on the season while the visiting Forester’s drop to 0-1.
Next action for the Spartans is against MacMurray College on September 12, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. on Vago Field.