IHSA STATE FINALS: IIllini West Edges Tribe in final seconds
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For the fourth consecutive time, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1227968330_0">Du Quoin High School¹s trip</span> to the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1227968330_1">Illinois
High School Association</span> (IHSA) Class 3A State Finals has ended in total
heartbreak.
Friday night, the Indians fell 21-14 against top-ranked Carthage (Illini
West) in the championship game at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1227968330_2">Memorial Stadium</span> as <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1227968330_3">Mike Lafferty</span> tossed
an 18-yard scoring pass to Jake Smudlach with just 25 seconds remaining.
The final margin accounted for Illini West¹s only lead in the contest, which
wasn¹t decided until Zack Burling¹s interception with 17 seconds left.
Du Quoin, making its seventh appearance in the finals, ended another
brilliant season at 12-2. The Indians also saw fourth quarter leads erode in 1994, 1995 and 2002 title game setbacks.
"We came within a few plays of a state championship, but came up just a bit
short," Indians coach Al Martin said." I guess you win some and you lose
some."
A full story will appear on this site later in the weekend.