Carthage Sours Bluejays Homecoming
Bluejays quarterback John Odom (7) is pushed out of bounds by Firebird linebacker Ramon Campos (9) during EU’s homecoming football match against the Carthage Firebirds on Oct. 4. The Bluejays lost 7-31. (PC: Tommy Gorski)
The Elmhurst University Football team was defeated by Carthage College 31-7 in their Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Langhorst Field. The Bluejays suffered their third straight loss and fell to 1-3.
The Bluejays could not match the thrill of last year’s homecoming game. As they won their first game last year on homecoming when they defeated North Park 28-21.
Carthage found the endzone in every quarter, as they jumped to a 17-0 lead at the half. Their lead inflated to 31 halfway through the fourth quarter, before the Bluejays could find the endzone for the only time during the game.
The Bluejays offense struggled early in the game as their first few drives ended with a lost fumble, interception, punt and a turnover on downs. They were able to drive down all the way to the Carthage three-yard line but were unable to score after going for it on fourth down. A bright spot for the offense was their running game as they rushed for 133 yards on 28 attempts. The only score for the Bluejays was an 18-yard rushing touchdown by Julius Maddox.
On the other side of the ball, the defense forced Carthage to punt twice during the game. The Bluejays held the Firebirds to only 158 passing yards but were cut up by the run game allowing 202 rushing yards. The defense was highlighted by a great game by Malakai Correa who had a team leading 13 tackles.
The Bluejays fell to 0-3 in conference and currently find themselves in last place in the CCIW. EU still has six more games left to play to try and turn their season around. They will need to win at least two of those games to match their win total from a season ago.
The Bluejays take the field next against Augustana under the lights of Langhorst Field next Saturday, Oct. 11. EU fell to Augustana in their last matchup 35-21.