LFC Coaches Show- Week 5- Beloit

Entertaining and exciting homecoming game, sees Foresters defeated.

In an effort worth of a homecoming performance, the Forester fell just short in their comeback efforts. The Foresters were able to claw within 3 points on the first play of the fourth quarter and again within 4 points with seven minutes remaining in the game.

Junior Quarterback Pete Scaffidi would become the first Forester ever to throw for over 300 yards in three consecutive games as he finished with 345 yards. Senior Kevin Davis would top 150 receiving yards for the second time in two weeks, besting his career single game high by one yard with 158 yards. Senior Luke Butts would record his first interception of the year, moving him up to 7th all time for interceptions for the Foresters.

Early in the game, the Foresters were their own worst enemy. After each teams first possession, the Foresters held a 7-3 lead over the Pioneers. On Carroll's second possession of the game, they held Carroll to a 3 and out series and forced Carroll to punt. The punt landed out of the endzone and the Foresters. The Foresters would also have a 3 and out, but the punt snap went awry and the Foresters were tackled on their own 11 yard line. The Foresters defense held tough on the first three plays, but the Pioneers attempt on 4th and goal from the 2 yard line was successful.

The Foresters next drive would end on a Pete Scaffidi interception. It was only Scaffidi's third interception on the season. Carroll would take possession of the ball and score to extend their lead to 17-7. The drive was aided by a 15 yard personal foul call against the Foresters.

Lake Forest would receive the kickoff and go 72 yards on 11 plays. The scoring play was a 4th & 11 pass from Pete Scaffidi to Kevin Davis that went for a 24 yard touchdown pass. The extra point from Donnie Caldwell would make the score 17-14 in favor of the Pioneers.

Carroll would return the following kickoff to the 42 yard line. They would pick up a first down on a screen pass to their running back. On the next play, the Foresters would intercept Carroll's pass on the seven yard line on a spectacular over the shoulder catch by sophomore defensive back Darrius McKay. The interception was McKay's second of the season.

The Foresters would pick up two first downs before and illegal block would negate an Al Mitchell 3 yard run, and send them back to the 18 yard line. On the subsequent 4th down, the Foresters would have their second miscue on special teams as a Carroll defender partially blocked the Tanner Daugherty punt.

"We had a chance to really build some momentum in the first half. I hate to use "coach talk" but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We had two opportunities to take the lead, or at least chance the field position in our favor, and both times, we gave the ball back to Carroll in better field position than they had left the field with on their previous series," commented Coach Catanzaro.

Carroll would take over, but it was the Forester defense that stepped up and held the Pioneers to a single first down. After gaining a first down, the Carroll QB would get to know sophomore defensive lineman Taylor Holzmeyer who sacked him for a 10 yard loss. The Forester defense would give up no more yards on this drive and force Carroll to punt. The Carroll punt went out of bounds, and the Foresters took over on their 20 yard line. After an incomplete pass and a false start penalty the Foresters were faced with a 2nd and 15 from their 15 yard line. Scaffidi would be intercepted for the second time in the contest by the Carroll defender Neal Layng. Layng would return the interception to the Lake Forest 12 yard line. On second down, the Pioneers were able to extend their lead to 24-14.

"That was a very frustrating sequence. I expected the defense to go out there and get a stop the way that they had been playing to that point, and hold for a field goal attempt. Too have two of their three touchdowns cover 12 and 11 yards total was frustrating. We knew that we could give them extra chances in the short field like that. They were second in the conference last year, and are a top three or four team in the MWC most seasons. You can't turn the ball over, or make special teams errors. They will capitalize on those situations," explained Catanzaro.

The Foresters next possession was showing great promise as they crossed midfield with ease and looked on pace to answer the Carroll score. On 2nd and 4 on the 41 yard line, Scaffidi completed a crossing route to Davis who took the ball to the 27 yard line before being hit awkwardly, and fumbling the football. Layng picked up his second turnover of the day and began a footrace through the Forester offensive lineman and appeared on his way for a touchdown, had it not been for junior wide receiver Rocky Al-Mutawa who caught Layng from behind on the 10 yard line.

"Rocky's hustle play turned out to be one of the most important plays of the game. It gave our defense a chance to go on the field at try to get a stop. The fumble really hurt us. The way we were moving the ball, it looked like we were going to cut the lead into a one score lead, and you could feel the energy get zapped from our sideline," said Catanzaro.

The Forester defense would be aided by a personal foul on second down and three consecutive incomplete passes by Carroll, before the 42 yard field goal attempt would push wide of the uprights.

"We felt that we dodged a bullet at the end of the half. I felt like our defense really responded, and had picked up a few big stops, and were playing really well when we had some space to work with. But we had also gotten two stops inside the red-zone. Despite the points, I thought we were doing a fairly good job on defense. I thought that if our offense just held onto the ball, that they could score a lot of points in the second half," said Catanzaro.

The Carroll offense, was averaging 195 yards rushing the ball per game, but were limited to 9 carries for 14 yards in the first half of play.

The second half started with the Foresters receiving the opening kickoff. The drive would march deep into Pioneer territory, before a 4th down completion to Austin Sobey would be marked 4 inches short of a first down. The Forester defense would come out and play a great series, which included Holzmeyer's second sack of the day on third down, thus forcing Carroll to punt again. The Foresters would march down the field, before the drive would stall on the 8 yard line. Freshman Donnie Caldwell would attempt a 27 yard field goal that would sail wide left.

The Forester defense would gain another stop of the Carroll offense, as Luke Butts would intercept the third down pass by Carroll on the 36 yard line. The Forester offense would take 10 plays, but on the first play of the fourth quarter would score on a Pete Scaffidi quarterback sneak, cutting the Carroll lead to 24-21.

"It was great to see the defensive takeaway leading to a touchdown. That is something that we had talked about all week in practice that we needed to make a big stop, or get a takeaway and then score. Pete told us that he could get us in there, even if we had to run the sneak four times in a row. I think that we were ready to do that at that point," said Catanzaro.

On Carroll's next possession, they would bounce a running play off a Forester tackle for 33 yards before junior Aidan Price would make the tackle. Price who was starting at safety for the first time in his career finished the day with five tackles and a forced fumble on the day. The Forester defense would gain one more big stop on the 14 yard line as Nick Waters broke up the Carroll 4th down pass attempt.

Unfortunately for the Foresters, they would commit another turnover on their first play after the 4th down stop. Junior Al Mitchell would take the handoff, but as he was tackled a Carroll defender was able to rip the ball away from Mitchell. Carroll would gain control of the bouncing ball, and take over with a fresh set of downs on the 18 yard line. Two plays later they would score to extend their lead to 10 points.

After a 41 yard kickoff return by McKay, Scaffidi would target junior Austin Sobey on the 1st play from scrimmage for a 37 yard touchdown.

"It was a great route conversion, and read by both players. After the "kick in the gut" of fumbling after the stop to get that score so quickly really helped out sideline and fans," said Catanzaro.

The following kickoff would drift out of bounds, giving the Pioneers a 1st and 10 on the 40 yard line. Carroll would march 60 yards on 8 plays over the course of 4 minutes in order to re-extend their lead to 10.

The offensive explosions were not complete by any stretch. Carroll would send their kickoff out of bounds, and the Foresters would look to capitalize with the short field. On their third play from scrimmage, they did just that as Scaffidi connected with Davis for a 46 yard touchdown. It was the second time the two South Elgin High School graduates had connected for a touchdown.

With seven minutes to go in the game, Carroll would hold a four point lead as the extra point attempt would be missed.

On the third play of Carroll's next drive, all-conference running back Joe Beckstrand would cutback a running play and go 39 yards for a touchdown, to get an 11 point lead for the Pioneers. The Foresters could not answer on their next drive, and Carroll was able to run out the clock on the Foresters homecoming.

"I think that every member of our team wanted that win more than anyone else. I know that we are all going to look at film tomorrow and be frustrated with our inability to capitalize on the opportunities that were there for the taking. We made some critical mistakes in special teams and in ball security early, and then defensively we had some lapses late in the game. Momentum is a funny thing, and we need to do a better job of riding that wave on the positive side of that. I am looking forward to getting back on the field to work towards that. We are a team that is much better than our record, but we have to figure out how to finish the game, once we accomplish that task, it will be the start of something really special," finished Catanzaro.

Players of the Week

Offense: Austin Sobey 9 catches 124 yards and 1 touchdown

Defense: Taylor Holzmeyer 2 sacks, 3 tackles, 1 pressure, 1 pass breakup

Special Teams: Darrius McKay 4 Returns 157 yards on kickoffs

Scout Team: Freshman Jared Herter

Lineman of the Week: Tom Mitchell

Carroll Pregame Show!

Foresters travel far, but fall short against Grinnell

"Disappointing. We played down today, and I am not sure why," commented Head Football Coach Jim Catanzaro after Saturday's loss to Grinnell.

"They are a talented team offensively. Their quarterback didn't run a lot, but he ran in critical times. Their passing game gave us fits defensively. Robert Seer is, in my opinion, one of the top two wide receivers in the league, and we didn't have an answer for him. We tried man, we tried zone, and we couldn't seem to stop him. It was like when Dan Carter played for us. He was going to get his, and we knew the ball was going there, and couldn't seem to stop him," said Catanzaro of the Grinnell wide receiver who had 11 catches for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Foresters were stout against the Grinnell running game, giving up only 2.7 yards per carry, but through the air was another story, as Grinnell amassed 338 yards through the air. The only more staggering statistic, was that the Forester offense racked up more yards than the Pioneers 443-408.

"A few things really tripped us up today. The long kick return, and the fumble, were extremely costly, not only on the field, but from an emotional start. You put together a great drive offensively to start the game, and go get the 7-0 lead. Then on the kickoff, you give up a 60 yard return to the 17 yard line. Most good offenses are going to score from that point. Our defense pushed them to fourth down, but weren't able to get the stop on 4th and goal. Then later in the quarter the defense comes up with a big goal line stand, on a big 4th down sack by John Dillon, and then two plays later, we turn the ball over on the 10 yard line. So their first two scores covered a total of 27 yards. You can't let a team build a lead that way," said Catanzaro.

"I think that the referee's got into our players heads as well. Especially in the secondary. A few questionable calls, and then the number of pass interference calls that were made. I have never in my life seen the number of defensive holding/pass interference calls in one game. There were 5 or 6 calls, and one negated an interception by us," said Catanzaro. "We need to clean up our pass coverage this week in practice. A couple of players have gained extensive playing time due to injuries, and they need to start playing at a higher level if they want to continue being on the field."

Offensively, the Foresters exhibited their best balance of the 2011 season. Junior Al Mitchell recorded 22 carries for 121 yards to pace the Forester rushing attack. The passing game saw another solid day by Pete Scaffidi as he completed 31 of 46 passes for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns. Scaffidi completed passes to seven different receivers, who were lead by senior Kevin Davis with 14 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown.

"KD put together a nice game, but I can guarantee you that he felt like he left a few catches/yards on the field. I know that he gave all that he had, and his performance showed that," said Catanzaro. The 14 catches in one game is the second highest total for a single game in school history. Only Dan Cole vs. Monmouth in 1990 recorded more catches in a single game (17).

"We have a big challenge this week against Carroll. They are coming to Lake Forest on a mission. They had an unusual early season loss against Illinois College, and they sent notice to the conference after they beat Ripon College that they are still a team to be reckoned with. They have a tremendous duo at running back, and they have some very talented tight ends, that we haven't seen a lot of the last two weeks. Our guys are going to have to have a great week of practice this week as we get ready for homecoming," concluded Coach Catanzaro.

Players of the Week:

Offensively: Junior RB Al Mitchell (22 carries for 121 yards and 2 TDs, 6 catches for 22 yds)

Defensively: Senior Safety Luke Butts 9 tackles, including 2 TFL's

Special Teams: Junior LB Aidan Price

Scout Team Player of the Week: Freshman DE Ramel Samuel

Lineman of the Week: Gil Munoz

Foresters fall to IC despite record breaking day.

Junior quarterback Pete Scaffidi (pictured left) continued his hot streak passing the football, against Illinois College on Saturday. Scaffidi broke the school's single game record for touchdown passes with five. The previous record of four, was one that Scaffidi shared with five other former Forester signal callers.

Scaffidi also recorded the most completions in a single game by a Forester with 34, breaking the previous record of 33 set by Don Lackey in 2001. Scaffidi's 333 yards were good for the fifth highest single game output in school history. His 74% completion percentage was good for second on the single game list.

"I am thrilled with Pete's performance. He put a tremendous amount of effort in this off-season to make sure that our offense took the necessary steps under his leadership for us to be successful. I think one of the things that really stands out about Pete's performance thus far is how well he is spreading the ball around to different receivers. Seven different guys caught footballs for us, and six of them had double digits in yards receiving."

Scaffidi wasn't the only Forester etching his name on the top ten lists for the Foresters. Junior Austin Sobey tied the school record for touchdown receptions in a single game with 3. Sobey joins seven other former Foresters with this total, including teammate Kevin Davis (who had three TD's against Knox in 2010) and his position Coach Dan Carter, who accomplished the feat on three occasions.

Senior Kevin Davis recorded 11 receptions, which is good for 8th on the single game total list.

"Our receivers have really stepped up. Kevin and Austin have been more productive than last year, and more consistent. I think that is the most important thing. They are consistent and dependable, and they have developed a great chemistry with Pete. Coach Kerr has found a way to use their individual talents, and they are really excelling."

"There are two things that can not be overstated, and that is the credit that the offensive line deserves for these performances. In the last two games, we have passed the ball 75 times, and have our opponents have not recorded a single contact sack. (the lone sack was a QB scramble that was a one yard loss.) The second component that really stands out is how well we are taking care of the football. So far this year, we have thrown for 11 touchdowns, and only 1 interception. I am thrilled with the progress our offense has made," said Catanzaro.

Catanzaro was not as pleased with the defensive performance. "I am frustrated. We have talented players, above average athletes, and guys who work hard. Something isn't clicking, and it is my job to find a way to get us over this hump."

The Blueboys did not punt until midway through the third quarter, and converted 8 of 10 3rd downs in the first two quarters. "Since I arrived at Lake Forest, we prided our defense on making people work for everything, and being good at getting off of the field on third downs. We didn't do that on Saturday. They worked for everything, and didn't hit many big (yardage) plays on us, but we really struggled with getting of the field on third downs. We will look at our play calls, our execution, and our aggressiveness on film this week and get better."

Catanzaro continued talking about the defense,"when a defense is failing, it is usually one of four things. 1. Poor tackling, 2. Failure to create turnovers, 3. Failure to pressure the quarterback, and 4. Failing to get off the field on third downs. During different points of the game we struggled with each one of those things. We recovered one of two fumbles that were on the ground, and recorded a single interception. I felt that we had two more opportunities to create takeaways and we failed to do so. Our defense is young, with only two seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, but I have higher expectations of performance from our sophomores that are on the field for us. They have a full season of experience from last year, and many of them had significant playing time. I am looking forward to this week's practice."

Donnie Caldwell, a freshman kicker for the Foresters, was pressed into his first collegiate action on Saturday. "We told Donnie about 25 minutes before kickoff that he was going to have to handle all of our place kicking injuries due to an injury to our starter. Donnie did a great job, and handled the pressure of kicking for the first time in a game very admirably," said Coach Catanzaro. Caldwell went 5-5 on PAT's, and averaged 48 yards per kickoff.

The Foresters prepare for their longest trip of the season to Grinnell, IA to face the Grinnell College Pioneers. The Pioneers lost to Ripon College on Saturday, dropping their record to 1-2, 0-2 in the MWC.

Coaches Awards:

Offensive Player of the Game: Pete Scaffidi, JR (South Elgin High School, South Elgin, IL) 34 of 48 for 333 yards, 5 TD's (School Record)

Defensive Player of the Game: John Dillon, SO (Basha High School, Phoenix, AZ) came of the bench to record 8 tackles.

Scout Team Player of the Week: Edwin Esperanza JR (Colonial High School, Orlando, FL)

Special Teams Player of the Week: Donnie Caldwell FR (Center Moriches, East Moriches, NY) 5-5 on Extra Points, and averaged 48 yards on kickoffs.

LFC Coaches Show: Week 3- Illinois College

Video of the Foresters entrance on Patriots day!

Turn up your speakers, so that you can hear the engines of the Illinois Patriot guard in the background! Thank-you to David Perales for sharing his video with us!