ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst University football team used a 16-point fourth quarter and a blocked extra point attempt turned two-point conversion to take down Millikin University, 29-27, Saturday afternoon at Langhorst Field.

Elmhurst (2-5, 1-5 CCIW) used scores from all phases of the game to grab their first conference victory of the season. The defense was especially stifling, holding the Big Blue (0-7, 0-6 CCIW) to just one rushing yard and 280 yards passing, forcing seven Millikin punts in the game.

The Bluejays were led through the air by quarterback Andrey Acosta, who completed 29 of 47 attempts for 284 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, with Jacob Cockrell grabbing four receptions for 95 yards and a 64-yard score. On the ground, Aidan Pollock netted 54 rushing yards and a score.

Defensively, Bryce Gable led all Bluejays with seven tackles, notching one tackle-for-loss and a forced fumble which resulted in an Elmhurst touchdown. Etor Agbenya tallied three tackles-for-loss and scored two touchdowns on the day, one off a blocked punt and one from a sack-fumble forced by Gable. Jamon Gooden sacked the Millikin quarterback twice in the game, while Jeffrey Leighliter and Talyn West broke up three passes.

Millikin was led offensivley by Aidan Lombardo, completing 13 of 34 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown, while Matthew Salazar rushed for 18 yards and two scores. Defensively, three Big Blue defenders notched eight tackles (Sean Steele, Devin Williams, and Wasiu Lawal), while Steele grabbed one interception.

Both teams were stopped on their opening drives, with the Big Blue regaining the ball and being forced to punt from their own 16-yard line. On the ensuing punt, Jonas Burnett was able to get a hand on the ball and block the punt, leading to Agbenya recovering in the end zone for the first score of the game, with the extra-point attempt missed to move the score to 6-0 in favor of the Bluejays.

Millikin returned with a long drive resulting in a field goal, cutting the deficit to three, and later notched another field goal to even the score at six with 8:58 to go in the second quarter. Both teams were stopped short of points to end the first half, resulting in a six-all tie heading into the break.

After trading possesions twice to begin the third quarter, Millikin regained the ball again deep in their own territory at the 15-yard line. There, Gable got to the quarterback and forced a sack-fumble, with Agbenya again recovering the ball for his second touchdown of the game, and a missed extra-point attempt gave the Bluejays a 13-6 lead. Millikin responded with a long kickoff return to set the visitors up on the Elmhurst 16-yard line, which the Big Blue proceeded to run into the end zone and regain a 14-13 lead.

The Big Blue began the fourth quarter with the ball and found a 50-yard touchdown pass completion to extend the lead to 21-13 with 14:17 left in the game. On the ensuing drive, Acosta completed a deep pass to Cockrell over the middle which went to the house, but the two-point conversion from Elmhurst failed, cutting the lead to just two. 

Both teams again traded possessions before Elmhurst took a long drive down the field, resulting in eight points with a successful two-point coversion to go up 27-21 with 3:36 remaining in the game. Millikin then found a 64-yard completion to set up at the one yard line of Elmhurst, and ran the ball into the endzone to knot the game at 27 pending the extra-point attempt. Then, the point after attempt was drilled into the line ahead of the kicker, bouncing away to Talyn West who scopped the ball up and ran it 90-yards for the successful defensive point-after attempt, putting two points on the board and Elmhburst ahead 29-27. After a failed onside kick attempt from Millikin, Acosta took a knee to run the clock out and secure the Bluejays' thrilling victory at home. 

UP NEXT

Elmhurst will hit the road next Saturday, Oct. 28, taking on Washington University in St. Louis in a CCIW battle scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. CT kickoff.

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