Mac falls

The MacMurray College Highlanders got on the board first, but the LaGrange College Panthers scored 24 unanswered points to take control of the game before eventually winning 49-30.

Thomas Flandermeyer kicked a 36-yard field goal to put MacMurray ahead less than three minutes into the game, but LaGrange answered with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Drew Carter to Nick Langley, followed by a Josh Stribling 22-yard field goal.

Kendrick Nelson then scored on a 9-yard run for LaGrange, just before Mario Wallace added another touchdown on a 12-yard run.

“We drove down the field to open the game, kicked a field goal, and then they got going,” said MacMurray coach Kyle Sweeney. “They’ve got a pretty good offense and they’re averaging about 38 or 39 points a game this season, and they did a good job today.”

MacMurray cut into the lead with an 18-yard scoring pass from DeMarien Hampton to Marc Randle, but LaGrange came back with a 57-yard pass from Carter to Mario Wallace.

MacMurray then made the first of two key mistakes on special teams to allow another touchdown.

The Highlanders had a punt blocked and recovered in the end zone by LaGrange, and the Panthers tacked on another score when Tim Hill returned a Hampton interception 40 yards to make the score 43-10.

MacMurray scored two quick touchdowns, however, as Randle caught his second touchdown pass of the game, moments before Steve Larson caught a 24-yard scoring pass from Hampton.

MacMurray attempted an onside kick to follow, and LaGrange’s Chris Prewitt returned the kick 40 yards for the Panthers’ last touchdown.

MacMurray’s Hampton threw his final touchdown of the day for the only score in the fourth quarter to Brian Clay, with just over four minutes remaining.

The Highlanders had little trouble passing the ball Saturday. Facing the top pass defense in Division III, Hampton threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns, with two interceptions. Randle led the MacMurray receivers with nine catches for 158 yards. Larson had four grabs for 109 yards.

But for as good as MacMurray was in the passing game, the Highlanders struggled in nearly every other aspect.

“Those two special teams plays really hurt us,” Sweeney said. “They were both at moments where we had a real shot to get back into it, but they both went the wrong way for us.”

MacMurray fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with Saturday’s loss.

“We’re not far away,” Sweeney said. “In all honesty, we’ve played the best teams in our conference and our non-league games were tough games, too. We’re starting a lot of freshmen, and we do some good things, but sometimes we do some freshman things.”

MacMurray will be back at home next weekend in a conference game against Westminster College. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Freesen Field in Jacksonville.