Du Quoin Waltzes to Homecoming Victory
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The first weekend in October isn't considered prime time for fireworks.
Prep football fans attending Du Quoin High School's Golden Anniversary
Homecoming game against Nashville, however, were treated to a fireworks
display that would rival anything produced on July 4th.
Scoring on six of its first seven offensive possessions, the Indians rolled
to an easy 49-20 victory at Van Metre Field. Du Quoin, 5-1 overall, hiked
its River-to-River Conference record to 3-0 in Mississippi Division play.
Next Friday, Du Quoin visits undefeated Anna-Jonesboro in a contest that
will likely decide the division title.
Nashville's records are 2-4 and 1-3.
"I feel like we are just continuing to improve in all phases of game,"
Indians coach Al Martin said. "Our kids have really had some outstanding
practices the past few weeks and that hard work is starting to pay off."
Du Quoin's balanced offense rolled up 358 total yards on its home sod, all
but 14 yards coming in the first three quarters.
A 23-yard touchdown run on just the third play from scrimmage staked the
Tribe to an early 6-0 lead. Nick Baskin‹who would finish 7-for-7 in
conversion kicks‹tacked on the extra point.
76 seconds later, following safety Seth Flint's interception and 27-yard
return, the Indians went ahead by two scores. Junior David Gayton slipped
untouched around the end on the first snap after the turnover, making the
score 13-0. Baskin's kick gave Du Quoin a 14-point edge just 3:15 into the
contest and all but decided the outcome.
Nashville sliced the lead down to 14-7 after Brady Harre connected with Troy
Hale on a 24-yard TD pass. The score came following Flint's punt return
fumble at the Nashville 38.
Du Quoin scored again less than two minutes later, marching 69 yards on five
plays. The final 50 came on a nifty scoring pass from A.J. Hill to David
Rose. Running at top speed and fully extended, Rose latched on to Hill's
pass and ran untouched for the easy score.
The 21-7 lead grew by three touchdowns during the second quarter as senior
Ben Conner ran for a 15-yard TD. Hill tossed two more scoring
passes‹covering 27 and 3 yards‹to Rose and Dalton Morgan by halftime.
Rose finished his second touchdown catch with a dive to the goal line, slipping
between two Nashville defenders to stretch into the end zone.
"We are really happy with the improvement on the offensive line," Martin
said. "I felt like we really blocked well. And, our defense was very good
again. Nashville's a tough team to prepare for and I thought we handled
everything pretty well."
Du Quoin scored for the final time on Reed's 29-yard dash moments after
intermission.
Nashville would tack on two fourth quarter scores on 2-yard runs by Michael
Derick and Trevor Pedtke.
Reed (8 carries, 103 yards) topped Du Quoin's rushing attack. Hill hit on
9-of-13 passes for 123 yards. Rose (4 catches, 88 yards) was the top
receiver.
Defensively, Du Quoin had six tackles and two quarterback sacks from Morgan.
Matt Gossett had six stops with Josh Cushman adding notching two sacks. All
totalled, 25 Indians had at least one stop.
Du Quoin 49, Nashville 20
Nashville (2-4, 1-2) 7 0 0 13‹20
Du Quoin (5-1, 3-0) 21 21 7 0‹49
First Quarter
DQ‹Jamor Reed 23 run (Nick Baskin kick), 10:01
DQ‹David Gayton 16 run (Baskin kick), 8:45
NV‹Brady Harre 24 pass to Troy Hale (Logan Gill kick), 3:06
DQ‹A.J. Hill 50 pass to David Rose (Baskin kick), 1:26
Second Quarter
DQ‹Ben Conner 15 run (Baskin kick), 9:44
DQ‹Hill 27 pass to D. Rose (Baskin kick), 5:30
DQ‹Hill 3 pass to Morgan (Baskin kick), 2:00
Third Quarter
DQ‹Reed 29 run (Baskin kick), 9:14
Fourth Quarter
NV‹Michael Derick 2 run (Gill kick), 9:12
NV‹Trevor Pedtke 2 run (kick blocked), 2:52
TEAM STATISTICS
DQ NV
First downs 19 10
Rushes-yards 31-216 33-165
Passing yards 153 24
Yards lost -11 -27
Total net yards 358 162
Comp-att-int 10-14-0 1-2-1
Punts-avg. 0-0 6-203, 33.7
Return yards 126 102
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Turnovers 1 1
Penalties-yards 5-45 7-43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING‹Du Quoin: Reed 8-103, Hill 3-30, Gayton 4-28, Conner 4-36, Hester
5-5, Bastien 2-8, Gossett 1(-5), Holmes 4-11.
Nashville: Bry. Harre 1293, Derick 8-24, Seeger 6-20, Bra. Harre 1-3, Pedtke
6-11, Meyer 1-14.
PASSING‹Du Quoin: Hill 9-13, 123 yards, 3 TD; Matt Gossett 1-1, 30 yards,
Bigham 0-0.
Nashville: Bra. Harre 1-3, 24 yards, 1 TD; Pedtke 0-0.
RECEIVING‹Du Quoin: D. Rose 4-88, Flint 3-24, Morgan 2-11, Bastien 1-30.
Nashville: Hale 1-24
TACKLES‹Du Quoin: Morgan 6, Paxton 4, S. Heape 5, Cushman 4, Gossett 6,
Stolhans 2, Jones 4, Reed 1, Flint 1, M. Clarry 5, S. Clarry 1, Hoffman 2,
Mifflin 2, Hamburger 1, Beasley 1, Holmes 1, Conner 1, Wagner 1, Youngman 1,
Bland 2, D. Rose 1, Carson 1, Kabat 1, D. Rose 1, Tudor 1.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES‹Nashville: Newman, Grathwohl.
INTERCEPTIONS‹Du Quoin: Flint
QUARTERBACK SACKS‹Du Quoin: Morgan 2, Cushman 2, Paxton 1
BLOCKED KICKS‹Du Quoin: Beasley
OFFICIALS‹Tony Gualdoni crew.