Tribe Steamrolls Harrisburg
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ In a span of just 21 seconds, Dalton Morgan changed the complexion of what
had been a very frustrating first half for the state's seventh-ranked Class
3A <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_0">prep football team</span>.
Morgan‹Du Quoin's 6-foot-4, 230 pound two-way starting end‹blocked a punt
and turned a short pass into a long touchdown shortly before halftime,
helping the Indians roll past visiting Harrisburg 43-7.
The win was the eighth straight by Du Quoin (2-0) against the Bulldogs, who
fell to 0-2. Next Friday night, the Indians visit undefeated Herrin.
"I definitely think we improved in a lot of areas," <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_1">Du Quoin coach Al Martin</span>
said. "And we were pushed by a pretty good ballclub. I really don't think
the final score is evidence of how good they are. We played four awfully
good quarters."
Du Quoin broke ahead on its second offensive season, marching 63 yards in 10
plays. The final 19 yards came on A.J. Hill's pass to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_2">David Rose</span>. The point
after kick by Nick Baskin gave the Tribe an early 7-0 edge.
Harrisburg, held to only two first downs in the opening half, trailed just
7-0 with under two minutes remaining. The Indians failed on a fourth down
play, punted and lost a fumble during its three possessions following the D.
Rose catch.
The final two minutes, 1:40 to be exact, belonged to Morgan.
After blasting in to block Reid Roper's punt from the 30, senior just missed
recovering the deflection for a touchdown. The ball bounced out of Morgan's
grasp in the back of the end zone, making the score 9-0.
Two plays later, and following Jamar Reed's 28-yard <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_3">kickoff return</span>, Du Quoin
struck again.
Hill's dump pass to Morgan turned into a race down the sideline. Morgan won
the dash easily, beating several Harrisburg defenders to the goal line.
Baskin's PAT kick pushed the score to 16-0, giving Du Quoin some much-needed
breathing run.
"Dalton just had a great game," Martin said. "He also had a great week of
preparation on both sides of the ball. Dalton has that talent to be a
dominating player and he certainly was tonight."
Riding the late momentum into the halftime break, Du Quoin wasted left
little doubt about things in the third quarter.
Hill and Cale Bastien started the 20-point flurry with a 15-yard touchdown
pass play. The 23-0 margin grew when Morgan struck again.
Flushing Roper out of the pocket‹ and into a lefthanded throw‹Morgan tipped
the pass bound for Cain Sheldon. Indian linebacker Ben Conner caught the
deflection and rambled 21 yards down to the Harrisburg 27.
Four plays later, Hill found paydirt from the one.
Ahead 23-0, Du Quoin again took full advantage of another big play by
Morgan.
Stripping Noah King of the ball following a short gain, Morgan
recovered the fumble while tight-roping the sideline. He stepped out of
bounds at the 36-yard line.
This drive ended when Reed pancaked a would-be Bulldog tackler at the goal
line, the final punctuation mark on a bruising six-yard run.
Du Quoin's last TD, Conner's two-yard run, pushed the margin to 43-0 and
started the continuous clock.
Harrisburg marked on King's five-yard run with 3:55 left.
"We really had some kids just step up and make plays," Martin said. "I can't
count how many times we were able to come up with a big play on offense and
defense, a big catch or a play on special teams."
Du Quoin quietly rolled up 232 yards rushing. David Gayton (14 carries, 74
yards) led the way. Hill ran for 55 more yards with <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_4">Bastien</span> adding 46 and
Reed 33.
Through the air, Hill spread 142 yards among five different receivers.
Defensively, Du Quoin was again rock-solid and surrendered just 74 yards
with its first string unit. Morgan (eight) was the stops leader with 19
players recording at least one tackle.
Du Quoin 43, Harrisburg 7
HB 0 0 0 7‹7
DHS 7 9 20 7‹43
First Quarter
DQ‹D. Rose 19 pass from Hill (Baskin kick), 5:09
Second Quarter
DQ‹Safety (Morgan blocks punt out of end zone), 1:40
DQ‹Morgan 47 pass from Hill (Baskin kick), 1:19
Third Quarter
DQ‹Bastien 15 pass from Hill (Baskin kick), 7:45
DQ‹Hill 1 run (kick blocked), 4:34
DQ‹Reed 8 run (Baskin kick), 2:40
Fourth Quarter
DQ‹Conner 2 run (Baskin kick), 7:15
HB‹King 5 run (Brown kick), 3:55
TEAM STATISTICS
DQ HB
First down 22 6
Rushes-yards 53-232 19-56
Passing yards 142 80
Yards lost -11 -13
Total offensive yds 363 123
Comp-att-int 9-15-0 7-17-1
Punts-Avg. 2-68, 34.0 4-86, 21.5
Return yds. 86 101
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties-yds 6-60 7-66
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING- Du Quoin: Gayton 14-74, Hill 14-55, Bastien 10-46, Reed 6-33,
Hester 5-12, Conner 4-12.
Harrisburg: King 12-33, Behne 2-16, Sheldon 2-7, Davis 3-0,
PASSING- <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_5">Du Quoin: Hill</span> 9-15, 142 yards, 2 TD. Gossett 0-0.
Harrisburg: Roper 8-17, 80 yards, 1 INT.
RECEIVING- Du Quoin: Morgan 2-54, D. Rose 4-52, Bastien 1-15, Clarry 1-14,
Flint 1-7.
<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1220680937_6">Harrisburg</span>: Sheldon 4-65, King 3-16, Dowdy 1-0, Owen 1- (-1).
TACKLES- Morgan 8, Paxton 1, S. Heape 6, Conner 3, Gossett 2, C. Jones 2,
Flint 3, Reed 1, D. Rose 1, Hoffman 1, Stollhans 3, Clarry 1, Mifflin 3,
Holmes 1, Wagner 2, Youngman 2, Kabat 2, Baskin 1, L. Porter 1.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES-Du Quoin: Morgan
Harrisburg: B. Johnson
INTERCEPTIONS-Du Quoin: Conner
QUARTERBACK SACKS-Du Quoin: Morgan 1.
Harrisburg: Frymire, King.
BLOCKED PUNTS
Du Quoin: Morgan
KNOCKED DOWN PASSES:
Du Quoin: D. Rose, Reed, Flint
OFFICIALS: Delbert Galloway crew.