JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The University of Chicago football team played the role of spoiler in Illinois College's home opener, routing the Blueboys 40-14 on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Maroons improved their record to 2-0 on the year. Illinois College evened their ledger at 1-1.

The first score came seven minutes into the first quarter, concluding a dominant 88-yard Maroon drive that took all of three plays. Following a quick pass play that gave the offense some breathing room, senior running back Nicholas D'Ambrose took the ball up the gut and sped through the IC front seven and into the secondary down the middle of the field for a 57-yard dash. This set up a 23-yard play action pass. The IC linebackers took the bait, biting on the fake hand-off, and left first-year wide receiver Luke Degner open as he cut across the field to make the catch and score.

With seven minutes to go in the second quarter, the Maroons looked to extend their lead going into the half. Senior wide receiver Michael Janis' 35-yard punt return set the offense up on the Blueboys' 21-yard line. After absorbing a sack on second down, senior quarterback Wesley Gow recovered nicely on the next play with an 18-yard scramble on third-and-long. UChicago then looked to its offensive line and a dose of D'Ambrose to punch it in on the goal line. The Maroons went into halftime with a 13-0 advantage.

Less than 90 seconds into the third quarter, the visitors were in prime position on the opposite side of the field thanks to a 16-yard punt by the Blueboys. UChicago immediately executed a deep passing strike, as Gow found sophomore wide receiver Colman Smith for a 45-yard score. The first-down long ball came into play again in the final seconds of the same quarter with a 33-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Diego Solis. That score was set up by a forced fumble by senior safety Braedon Junker that was picked up by sophomore cornerback Emile Vlahos. Both Smith and Solis wrangled two receptions each – Smith for a total of 50 yards and Solis for 38.

A pair of booming Will Goodman field goals (one for 48 yards, the next for 37) in the third quarter softened the blow of a 75-yard IC passing score. While the defense allowed 284 yards through the air in the game, the Maroons smothered IC's rushing attack, limiting the hosts to only 45 yards for an average of 1.4 yards per rush.

UChicago's fourth quarter scoring was provided via special teams on the opening drive of the period. Sophomore linebacker Seamus Kelly blocked an IC punt, scooped the ball and ran it into the end zone from 20 yards out to make the score 40-7.

IC tallied their second touchdown on a 64-yard pass to account for the 40-14 final score.

All told, the UChicago rushing attack amassed 205 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. D'Ambrose was credited with 166 yards on 21 rushes, averaging an impressive 7.9 yards a carry. Gow completed 12 of 24 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns on the day.

Along with his two field goals, Goodman tallied six touchbacks on eight kickoffs for a 61.9 yards per kick average.

The Maroon defense was led in the tackling category by first-year defensive back Stirling Sakashita and junior linebacker William Skowronski with eight each. Sakashita added two tackles for loss and one fumble recovery. Junior defensive lineman Kourosh Hassibi posted three tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. Senior defensive lineman Roman Lewis racked up 2.5 tackles for loss and a half sack.

UChicago's secondary had active hands, breaking up 11 passes. Junker led the way with three breakups, followed by senior safety Jason Heine and junior linebacker Aidan Cappellino with two apiece.

NEXT GAME:

• Saturday, Sept. 17 @ 1:00 PM – Beloit College at UChicago