Grinnell Loses on Road, Seer Breaks Two More Records!

Some days just aren't your days.  This Saturday was one of those for the Grinnell Pioneers.  Facing the 2nd best team in the conference on the road, certainly proved a tough task, but everything that could go wrong did, and the Scarlet & Black fell 48-16.

Robert Seer '12 hauls in one of his school record catches

Senior wide receiver Rob Seer '12 continued his assault on the Grinnell record books, vaulting into the top place all-time in receptions (223) and receiving yards (3,144) to go with the career receiving TDs (42) record he overtook two weeks ago.  It's now without doubt, that he is the most prolific wide receiver in Pioneer football history!  Congrats Rob!

Kelsey Davis ’12 and Colton Feller ’14 both had 12 tackles to lead the defense, while Brian Taylor ’13 added 10 tackles with 2.5 sacks and a safety.

Brian Taylor '13

Max Jacobson '14 blocked yet another PAT attempt, making it the fourth PAT or FG attempt he's prevented from going through the uprights this season tying the Grinnell single-season mark.

Grinnell falls to 5-4 overall (4-4 in MWC) and plays host to Carroll University (6-3, 5-3 MWC) this Saturday for the season finale and Senior Day at Rosenbloom Field!  Hope to see you there!

Players of the Week:
Offense - Morgan Kinsinger '14, Chris Jarmon '12, Quinn Rosenthal '14
Defense- David Ternes '15
Special Teams- Seth Gustafson '14
Practice - Harnak Mann '14

See the official game story here.

Grinnell Secures Winning Season!

The Grinnell College football team came up with a stellar effort in its final regular-season home game Saturday, and secured its first winning season since 2004 in the process with a 42-29 victory over Illinois College at Rosenbloom Field.

Illinois College entered the game in a tie for the Midwest Conference lead, but now falls to 5-3 in the league while Grinnell improves to the same record. That puts those two in a five-way tie for second place in the MWC. Grinnell is 6-3 overall and the Blueboys are 5-4.

Jason Peters ’14 (pictured) had a huge day for the Pioneers with eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Mike McCabe ’13 completed 21-of-36 aerials for 293 yards and four scores, while Logan Granera ’13 had five catches for 69 yards and a TD.

Grinnell’s defense shut down the high-octane Illinois College defense and intercepted last week’s Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week, Mitch Niekamp, three times. The Pioneers were sparked by two defenders celebrating Senior Day, Marquis Bradley ’11 and Ryan Fletcher ’11, who each had 14 tackles. Ryan Creps ’12 added two interceptions.

See the game box score here.

The Pioneers take their 6-3 record up to Wisconsin this Saturday for the 2010 finale versus Carroll University (6-3, 5-3 in MWC).  The winner secures at least a share of 2nd place in the MWC and with a St. Norbert loss would earn a share of the MWC title.

Go Pioneers!

Pioneers Fall to Blueboys

On a gorgeous late October Saturday, the Grinnell Pioneers lost a shoot-out to the Illinois College Blueboys by a final of 55-34. Both teams combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense, and we ran 105 offensive plays total. We also had 68 pass attempts which is a school record. For the second straight week, we showed great heart and fight after coming back from a 41-13 deficit midway through the third quarter to close the gap to 47-34 with 3:00 remaining in the game before a late interception dealt the final blow.

Next up is Ripon College and our last home game of 2009. It'll be Senior Day at Rosenbloom Field as we see the 14 seniors on the home turf one final time. Should be a great day to be a Pioneer!

Road Trip!

We are leaving within the hour for our second overnight trip this fall, this time to Jacksonville, Illinois, home of the Illinois College Blueboys. After a four-plus hour bus ride, we'll get some dinner at the Olive Garden, go to the hotel where we'll meet briefly and then get a good night's sleep before tomorrow's game. It should be a good contest, and another challenge for us as defensively we face a pretty good aerial attack and will start our freshman quarterback for the second straight game.

For those of you who don't regularly check the links on the right side of this page, please check out Chris Jarmon's personal blog about being a Division III football player. He started the blog when he was a player at Colorado College and has continued writing about his experiences since transferring to Grinnell this year. He's a great writer and offers up a great perspective on the game at this level.

Comeback Falls Short

After staking the visiting Lake Forest Foresters out to a 28-7 halftime lead, the Pioneers rallied furiously in the second half before ultimately falling 35-28.

This was a tough loss in a lot of ways, but we can hold our heads up high for continuing to battle and fight for a victory and we just weren't able to get it done late in the game. This is the fourth loss this season by a touchdown or less and this gives us hope and encouragement that we are in fact climbing the ladder and progressing as a football team.

It's fall break this week, so we've got a great opportunity to spend some extra time on football and make sure we are 100% ready to travel to Illinois College on Saturday and come home with a Win!

Go Pioneers!