Ripon Pulls Away From Pioneers

After leading on two different occasions in the first half and only trailing 17-14 at halftime, the Grinnell College Pioneers weren't able to stay with the Ripon Redhawks, losing 38-20.  After restraining the Redhawks triple option offense to just two touchdowns in the first half, the hosts took to the air and threw more pass attempts than they had in the season's first two games combined.

Cody Weber '13

 Standouts for the Pioneers include safeties Drew Blumberg '13 (14 tackles) and Kelsey Davis '12 (11 tackles), wide receiver/running back Cody Weber '13 (100 yards of total offense and one touchdown), and cornerback/kick returner Andrew Clark '14 (1 INT and 55 kick return yards).

Check out the official game story here.

Game Photos!

Local photographer Cory Hall took some pictures at our game against Ripon this past Saturday.  Here are some of the best!

Jake McVeigh '11 prepares for the snap

Logan Granera '12 runs away from the Ripon defense

Marquis Bradley (#21) '11 and the Pioneer defense

Mike Bogard '12

Seth Gustafson '14 returns a kick off

Pioneers Fall to Ripon RedHawks

A battle of unbeatens between Grinnell and Ripon on Saturday led to one of the more interesting gameday experiences witnessed at Rosenbloom Field.  First, Head Coach Jeff Pedersen left campus shortly after the team breakfast to be with his wife who had gone into labor and later delievered their second child, a girl Nora Jane.  Obviously, a big congratulations is in order for the Pedersen family!

Without their leader, the Pioneers struggled in the first half falling behind 27-0 before halftime.  As soon as the 2nd quarter ended, a storm system rolled into the area and the game was delayed for over 2 and 1/2 hours.  When we finally got the third quarter started it was almost 5:00pm and we quickly regained our composure and fought back into the game with three touchdowns in the 3rd quarter before eventually falling 48-21. 

Individual highlights include wide receiver and return specialist Logan Granera '12 racking up 336 all-purpose yards (195 of those were of the receiving variety) and 2 touchdowns.  Quarterback Mike McCabe '13 came in in the second half and threw for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 15 completions.  He also ran for 41 yards and a TD on 7 carries.  Defensively, linebacker Marquis Bradley '11 had 13 tackles and fellow linebacker Jeremy Wiles '14 had 11, 8 of which were solo.  Cornerback Andrew Clark '14 also added an INT.

Game story is here.

The Pioneers head to Lake Forest College this weekend for a tough road test and look to stay in the hunt for a conference championship.

Go Pioneers!

Pioneers Lose to RedHawks

Although we could not have asked for better weather on Senior Day at Rosenbloom Field, the host Pioneers fell to Ripon 38-17 in our last home game of 2009. We again showed great resolve by mounting a comeback and refusing to quit before the last whistle blew. But it wasn't enough as their offense executed their triple-option attack as precisely as they have done all year and we weren't able to come up with enough big stops or turnovers to shift the tide. Offensively, we moved the ball effectively, racking up the 2nd most yards they've allowed all season, but fell short on finishing drives and putting the ball in the endzone.

We head to Beloit this Saturday for the final contest of the 2009 season and will also serve as a great catapult of momentum heading into the 2010 season!

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!