AURORA, Ill. - The Coe College football team saw its season come to a close on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the DIII Football Championship, falling 20-7 at #12 Aurora at the Spartan Athletic Park. Aurora raced out to an early lead after Coe picked up just one first down on its opening drive, putting together an 11-play, 68-yard scoring drive to take a 7-0 lead. The Spartans added to their lead with another touchdown in the second quarter, marching the length of the field on a 97-yard drive before cashing in from the one. Aurora got the first points of the second half, tacking on three points on a 29-yard field goal after Coe turned the ball over inside its own 30. The Kohawks finally got on the board moments later as
Jack Shaw picked off a pass at the Coe goal line and returned it for a school-record 100-yard touchdown. Coe failed to capitalize on the momentum shifting play before the end of the quarter, trading scoreless drives with the hosts. The Kohawks threatened to get closer early in the fourth quarter but a pair of drives stalled out thanks in part to another turnover. Aurora put the final nail in the coffin midway through the quarter, taking advantage of another miscue from Coe with a 33-yard field goal after taking over just outside the redzone.
In total, Coe had just 250 yards of offense, its lowest total of the season. The Kohawks turned the ball over seven times, losing four fumbles while throwing three interceptions.
Shaw and the rest of the Kohawk defense forced four Spartan turnovers, picking off a pair of passes while recovering a pair of fumbles.
Ben Adelsberger had a team-high 13 stops, making six solo tackles while adding 2.5 tackles for loss. Shaw and
Jay Oostendorp were right behind Adelsberger with 12 tackles each while Oostendorp was just shy of tying the single-game school record for tackles for loss with 5.5. Shaw also forced a fumble in addition to his record-setting touchdown return.
Ben Ridenour also hit double-digit tackles in the contest, posting 10 total stops with three solos and a fumble recovery.
Stone Cummins and
Kyle Cole teamed up for Coe's other fumble recovery with Cummins forcing the turnover while
Darrius Saunders had the team's second interception.
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