The football team earned its first victory of the season with a 29-7 victory over Lawrence University this past Saturday in Appleton, Wis.
“It’s just nice to get that first win under your belt because it breeds even more confidence,” said head coach Jeff Pedersen ’02.
Pedersen was especially impressed with the team’s defense, which saw 15 tackles, including a safety, by linebacker David Ternes ’15 and eight tackles by linebacker Daniel Munger ’15.
“The defense as a whole really stepped up,” Pedersen said. “They had Lawrence figured out and shut down from the beginning.”
Along with his 15 tackles, Ternes recorded four and a half sacks, breaking the school record for most sacks in a single game, previously set in 1999.
“I’m improving,” Ternes said. “I started out not as good as I wanted to be, but I think I am improving day by day, game by game.”
According to Pedersen, he saw Ternes’s greatest and latest performance at last weekend’s game.
“David had another big game, probably the best game he’s played this year for sure,” Pedersen said. “The guy’s who’s record he broke is a pretty darn good player, so that is an impressive record.”
Offensively, running back Jacob Bernholtz ’17 led the team, rushing for 102 yards while also catching seven for 53 yards. “Jacob did it all as a running back,” Pedersen said. “Over 100 yards rushing, which is always a big benchmark, and then leading us in receptions—that was a big day for him,” Pedersen said.
In the first half, Grinnell got off to a great start with a 19-0 lead by halftime. Sam Poulos ’16 threw a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Jake Meixler ’15 to get the team on board first. After Ternes’ safety ended the first quarter, Graham Fisher ’16 kicked a 36-yard field goal to make the score 12-0 in the second quarter. Seven minutes later, Bernholtz rushed for a one-yard touchdown to extend the lead, capping an 11-play, 87-yard drive.
In the third quarter, Fisher kicked a 27-yard field goal with six minutes and 51 seconds left to stretch the lead to 22-0. Later in the period, Poulos tossed a 20-yard scoring pass.
On Lawrence’s next series, Daniel Ryerson ’15 forced and recovered a fumble. A couple of plays later, Poulos threw another 20-yard scoring pass to run away with a 29-0 lead.
Lawrence would score later in the period to account for the game’s final score, but it was too late to turn the tables around.
Moving forward, Pedersen wants the team to continue to communicate better with each other. He felt that despite the win, the Pioneers had some issues with communication, which resulted in some plays in which yards were lost. In tomorrow’s home game against Cornell College at 1 p.m., the coach expects more from his players.
