GRINNELL, Iowa — The Lawrence University football team fell short with a second-half rally Saturday at Grinnell College and dropped a 28-20 non-conference decision to the Pioneers at Rosenbloom Field.
Lawrence (1-4) trailed 28-14 at the half but held the Pioneers scoreless after the break. The Vikings got a pair of field goals from Pat O’Mahoney but couldn’t reach the end zone in the second half.
Lawrence quarterback Ryan Butterfield completed 13-of-25 passes for 117 yards, and ran 12 times for 68 yards. Freshman Terrence Simon ran five times for 85 yards and scored his first collegiate touchdown for the Vikings. Sophomore Donnel Haley added 61 yards on 14 carries for the Vikings.
Grinnell quarterback Sam Poulos was 17-of-26 for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
Grinnell (1-3) built a 21-7 lead with the help of touchdown passes of 67 and 19 yards by Poulos. Lawrence sliced the lead to 21-14 after Simon ripped off a 66-yard run with 3:05 left in the second quarter.
Emmi Sandoval then returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to push Grinnell’s lead to 28-14 at the half. Lawrence had not allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown since Lake Forest’s Casey Urlacher did it back in 2001.
The Vikings trimmed the lead to 28-17 when O’Mahoney booted a 30-yard field goal with 6:54 left in the third quarter. The Vikings cut the advantage to 28-20 when O’Mahoney connected on a 34-yard field with 5:08 remaining in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as Lawrence would get.
Lawrence won the statistical battle as the Vikings out-gained Grinnell 351-301. Lawrence piled up 210 yards on the ground and averaged 5.0 yards per carry.