September 16, 2006

Maroons Fall 23-10 at Elmhurst

ELMHURST, Ill. -- Terence Young caught a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes as Elmhurst College rallied from a 10-0 deficit to defeat the University of Chicago football team 23-10 in non-conference action Saturday at Langhorst Field.

Chicago (1-1) held the advantage in the first half as it outgained the host Bluejays (2-0) 171-77 and led in time of possession by 5:52.

Following a scoreless opening period, the Maroons scored all of their points in the second quarter. Senior quarterback Matt Rinklin (New York, N.Y./ Fordham Prep) connected with junior wideout Mike Albian (Darien, Ill./ Montini) from 22 yards out to cap an eight-play, 67-yard drive with 6:22 remaining in the first half.

Elmhurst fumbled on the first play of its next drive, giving the Maroons the ball at the Bluejays' 11-yard line. Four plays later, freshman kicker Ryan Verissimo (Skokie, Ill./ Niles West) booted a 34-yard field goal -- the first of his career -- to give Chicago a 10-0 lead.

Cedric Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards to the Chicago 37-yard line. The Bluejays drove to Chicago 9-yard line before settling for a Tyler Lomnicki 26-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the second quarter.

Elmhurst scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter. A 10-yard scoring strike from Mike LaFleur to Young at the 9:15 mark capped an 11-play, 58-yard drive. The Bluejays took the lead for good, 17-10, when Ryan Freund linked up with Young from 15 yards out with 5:11 to go in the third period.

A 40-yard touchdown pass from Freund to Dave Brechin with 5:12 left in the game put the game out of reach.

In the second half, the Bluejays amassed 202 yards of total offense while limiting Chicago to 81. The Maroons reached Elmhurst territory only once in the final two quarters.

Rinklin completed 19 of 33 attempts for 202 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Albian caught a career-high eight passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.

LaFleur and Freund combined to throw for 232 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. Michael Cooley collected a game-high 10 receptions as Elmhurst defeated Chicago for the fourth straight year.

Sophomore cornerback Frank Chor (Orland Park, Ill./ Sandburg) had a team-high 10 tackles to go along with his first career interception for Chicago.

Box Score