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IHSA STATE FINALS: Du Quoin vs. Illini West

Posted November 26, 2008 10:00 pm

Jeff Profitt

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[IHSA STATE FINALS: Du Quoin vs. Illini West

For the seventh time in its glorious history of playing football, Du

Quoin High School's Indians have played as many games as they can play.

They've also held the maximum number of practices.

What does that all mean ?

It's very simple.

The Indians are one of 16 teams hitting the Zupke Field at Memorial

Stadium sports-turf in Champaign to play for an Illinois High School

Association (IHSA) State Championship.

Du Quoin (12-1) battles undefeated Illini West from Carthage (13-0) at 4

o'clock Friday for all the marbles in Class 3A.

Seeking its third state crown‹and first since 2002‹the Indians ride a

10-game winning streak. Illini West, fresh off a stunning semifinal win over

Oregon, is making just its second playoff appearance.

A newly formed school district, Ilini West started last fall and

includes students from Carthage, LaHarpe and Dallas City.

"Over the years Carthage has just played some great football," Du Quoin

coach Al Martin (215-43, 21st) season said. "Its a new district now, but its

still Carthage. They are the kind of team you'd expect to see in a

championship game‹big, strong, quick, physical and very athletic."

Like Martin, Illini West's Jim Unruh (23 years, 229-44, four state

titles at Carthage) is a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches

Association Hall-of-Fame. Carthage teams have always been noted for

producing punishing rushing attacks, hard-nosed defense and aggressive play.

2008 is no exception.

In the win over Oregon, the Chargers scored three times in the final

eight minutes to escape with a 27-23 win.

"We don't want the semifinal game to be the defining moment for this

team," Unruh admits. "Things have settled down here and we now have to great

ready to play a great Du Quoin team. We set our goal to win a championship

game at the start of the year, not just making it to the championship.

There's still plenty of work left yet."

Illini West averages almost 49 points and 395 rushing yards per game.

The Chargers rely on fullback Stefan Flynn (5'10, 215, sr.), the

wingback duo of Drake Schmudlach (6'0, 180, so.) and Mitchell Beals (6'0,

185, jr.) and quarterback Michael Lafferty (6'0, 180, sr.) for the bulk of

their yards. Flynn (1,339 yards, 26 TD) is the rush leader, but Schmudlach

and Beals combined have gained 1,476 yards with 28 more TD. Lafferty‹who

threw a career-high four touchdown passes against Oregon‹sports 14 TD with

549 yards.

"There's nothing fancy about them," Martin said. "They'll bring it at

you with some quick and good-sized kids who run very hard. They block well

and have a pair of all-staters on the offensive line (Luke Burling and Ross

Hutson). We'll need to play great defense and find a way to slow them down."

Burling (6'5, 285, sr.) starts at right tackle with Hutson (6'0, 250,

sr.) starting two-ways.

Linebacker Derek VanFleet (6'0, 170, sr.), Hutson and two-way tackle

Kyle Hartzell (6'1, 250, sr.) top the Chargers defense.

Ends Kris Vincent (6'1, 190, sr.) and Carl Hartweg (6'3, 195, jr.) provide

plenty of support.

Lafferty (869 yards, 14 TD) is a solid passer while also handling

punting, kicking and return chores. Vincent and a pair of 6-foot-4 ends,

Travis Wilson and Jacob Schmudlach, are primary receivers.

"Its going to a least give Du Quoin some more to work on this week,"

Unruh said of the Charger pass game. "Its something we've always been able

to do. We just made the choice not to do it."

Du Quoin's rolled into another finals appearance under Martin with three

straight wins over undefeated foes (Carterville, Decatur St. Teresa and

Columbia) with a stingy defense. The Tribe's also shined offensively and on

special teams. During the playoff series, which began with a romp over Pana,

the Indians have committed zero turnovers while forcing 13 takeaways.

IHSFCA All-State quarterback A.J. Hill (2,065 yards and 30 TD passing),

is also the team's rushing leader (776 yards, 17 TD).

Junior receivers <span id="lw_1227828234_9" class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: medium none; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">David Rose (915 yards) and Marcus Clarry (219 yards)

are favorite targets, along with seniors Seth Flint (491 yards) and Cale

Bastien (3 playoff TD's).

" He's a fantastic quarterback, a D-I kid who jumps right out at you on

the films," Unruh said of Hill. "He does a great job of throwing the ball

and running. He's very athletic. The whole Du Quoin team is very athletic.

We just will need to keep playing hard and scratching for every inch we can

get."

Du Quoin's balanced defense relies on linebackers Matt Gossett and Colin

Jones (204 tackles combined) and down-linemen Seth Heape and Kyle Paxton. An

athletic secondary, led by Flint and Clarry, picked off four passes last

week. Ethan Beasley, a senior, filled in for injured all-stater Dalton

Morgan and contributed six tackles.

"To win this game we've got to have 11 kids all playing great defense,"

Martin said. "Carthage is gonna come right at us. If we can slow them down

at all, then I really think we'll be in great shape."

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