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Du Quoin's State Semifinal Bound

Posted November 16, 2008 10:00 pm

Jeff Profitt

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ When a pair of state championship-caliber prep football teams meet, the difference between who wins and who loses is often times very small.

It's a thin line, sometimes seperated by only a few inches.

In Du Quoin's case, it turned out to be even less.

Try about an inch-and-a-half.

A goal line stand for the ages in the final 56 seconds of play Saturday kept the Indians' dream of a third Class 3A State title alive for another week, as Du Quoin held back undefeated Decatur St. Teresa.

The final score was 14-10.

Now 11-1, and riding a nine-game winning streak, the Indians advance into the semifinal round for an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 3A record 14th time. They'll play at top-rated Columbia (12-0) next Saturday. Game time is 1 o'clock.

The Eagles eliminated Greenville 40-14 in the other lower-bracket quarterfinal.

Undefeated squads from Carthage-Illini West and Oregon also reached the final four with victories,

"We had so many big plays on both sides of the ball today," Indians coach Al Martin said. "Things were spread around. It wasn't just one player who carried us. We needed everyone involved playing well for us to be successful. A lot of different people really stepped up."

Du Quoin's defense stopped St. Teresa (11-1) inside the 25-yard line five times during the game, the last coming as the clock ticked under one minute.

Facing a fourth down and four from the Indian six-yard line, St. Teresa quarterback Danny Walker was flushed from the pocket and cut back inside. He was hit by a handful of Du Quoin defenders (Colin Jones, Kyle Paxton, Seth Flint, Dalton Morgan , Matt Gossett and David Rose) and stopped just shy of the first down.

"We had a run-pass option with our quarterback," veteran St. Teresa coach Scott Davis said. "Du Quoin just stopped us a few inches short."

Du Quoin then took over at the three yard line, running out the clock as quarterback A.J. Hill twice took a knee. A wild celebration followed as the Tribe secured its 59th playoff win-another Class 3A record.

"When I saw the quarterback get flushed out I thought we could stop him," said Martin. "The secondary covered the receivers and there wasn't a whole lot of room to run."

St. Teresa grabbed a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter, taking the lead on Walker's 28-yard field goal. After moving all the way down to Du Quoin's 11, the Bulldogs misfired on two pass plays and running back Matt Brown was stopped cold on first down.

With the wind to his back, Walker lined the kick between the uprights for an early DST edge.

Du Quoin would bounce back midway through the second period, converting three key third down plays on a 65-yard march.

The biggest plays, however, came on fourth down when Hill gained three yards to set up a first-and-goal and then tossed a 4-yard pass to Cale Bastien for the touchdown. Nick Baskin kicked the extra point.

Hill and Seth Flint also kept the chains going with a 24-yard connection on the sixth play of the drive. There were two other important tosses to Dalton Morgan.

"They were pinching down on the run hard and we just had to stay patient and find something that would work," Martin said. "I felt confident in the passing game."

Du Quoin's second defensive stand came as the half ended when David Rose intercepted Walker's pass at the Indian 11-yard line.

The Indians led 7-3 at intermission, but fell behind late in the third quarter.

Taking full advantage of the wind-and a short field-the Bulldogs zipped 42 yards in five plays to score. Matt Wooden ran in from the one-yard line and Walker added the PAT for a 10-7 advantage. A nifty 34-yard pass from Walker to Tommy Eichenauer (8 catches, 107 yards) put the Bulldogs in business.

Du Quoin started its next series at its own 15 and methodically reached midfield after David Gayton's 8-yard run and pair of Hill passes to Flint and Rose.

Facing fourth-down-and-four at Decatur's 26, the record-setting combination of Hill to Rose struck again. Hill's near-perfect fade pass towards the north sideline of Van Metre Field barely nestled into Rose's outstretched fingertips. He was tackled at the two and Hill put the Indians ahead for good with a 1-yard dive two plays later.

"That's just two good football players making a big-time play," Martin said. "And they've been doing that quite a bit these past two years."

Baskin's kick was good-his 12th straight of the playoffs-pushing the Indians on top 14-10.

St. Teresa wasn't finished, moving the ball 72 yards in a span of nearly seven minutes. A drive to the Indians' 14 had during the third quarter when linebacker Matt Gossett jarred the ball loose from Bulldog tight end Matt Moran at the 14-yard line.

"I was thinking they shouldn't be able to drive the field on us the way they were," Martin said. "That's what a good ballclub does. But our defense just kept coming up with big play after big play."

Morgan led the defensive unit with 10 tackles and a sack. Kyle Paxton added nine stops with Seth Heape and Marcus Clarry each recording seven tackles.

Jones, Gossett, Flint, Rose and Ben Conner all had at least four stops.

Hill finished 13-of-21 passing, totalling 139 yards. Rose (56) and Flint (51) were the yardage leaders for the Indians, who managed just a season-low 88 yards against the aggressive St. Teresa defense, with Hill gaining 41 and Gayton 32.

St. Teresa had 348 yards of total offense, out-gaining the Indians by 125 yards.

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