The football season for Lake Forest College ended on Nov. 11 when the Foresters fell to the University of Chicago. However, there was one more game to play for several members of the Foresters team.
Eight members of the Lake Forest team were named to the Stars and Stripes team for the Tazon de Estrellas game. The game was played in Tijuana, Mexico in December and featured the Stars and Stripes team facing off against of an all-star team of players from private universities in Mexico.
The Tazon de Estrellas game is sponsored by Global Football and this was the 20th game in the annual series. The game was held at CETYS University in Tijuana. Aside from the annual game, players also participated in community service activities in the Tijuana area.
The eight members of the Stars and Stripes team from LFC were offensive linemen Tom Steen and Jake Burkard, safety R.J. Pompey, cornerbacks Chase Slagboom and Trevor Bain, defensive linemen Tim Finucane and Hector Mendoza and long snapper Ryan Shalosky.
In the game, which was held in mid-December, the Stars and Stripes team fell to Mexico after a fourth-quarter comeback by the Mexican All-Stars. The Stars and Stripes team took an early lead and controlled the action for the first three quarters. Heading into the fourth quarter the Stars and Stripes held a 24-0 lead over the Mexican All-Stars. Mexico launched an impressive comeback in the final quarter and scored 28 straight points. The Mexican All-Stars scored the game-winning touchdown with just more than one minute left in the game.
In addition to the eight players from Lake Forest who were selected for the postseason game, another Forester athlete received some postseason honors. Joey Valdivia, a senior running back, was named to the D3football.com’s all-region team and the All-American third team. He is the only Forester to make the All-American team this year.
During the season Valdivia was one of the top players on the Foresters offense and led the country in scoring for the second-straight year. He averaged 18 points per game. He also set a school record by rushing for 1,809 yards during the year.
Valdivia was ranked second in the country in all-purpose yards per game with an average of 218 yards per game. He also owns the record of most career rushing yards with 4,170 yards. In his four year career at Lake Forest, Valdivia scored more rushing touchdowns than the next two players on the list combined.
Last year Valdivia was named to the All-West Region First Team last season as well as being selected to the All-American third team.
This season the Foresters finished in second place in the South division of the Midwest Conference with an 8-2 overall record and a 4-1 record in conference play. Lake Forest’s lone loss in conference play came against Monmouth, who would go on to claim the Midwest Conference Championship after defeating St. Norbert College 9-6 in overtime. The Foresters played in the third-place game, falling to the University of Chicago 33-13.
For more information on the Foresters football season, visit www.goforesters.com.
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