FOOTBALL: Red Devils rout Indians; Du Quoin draws Bloomington Central Catholic
Murphysboro proved their reputation as one of the best teams in southern Illinois on Friday night, pulverizing Du Quoin 43-8 at Van Metre Field after scoring 36 unanswered points.
The Red Devils led just 15-8 at the half, but scored twice in the first six minutes of the third quarter to put the game out of reach for the Indians.
DHS head coach A.J. Hill said Murphysboro's strong start to the second half was devastating to his team's chances of victory, but the Indians' mistakes and inefficiency on offense were also to blame.
"It kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit," said Hill. "Even then, they go down and fumble and we get the ball back, we've got to be able to put something together in the third quarter. Give credit to them, they're a great football team. When they can get on you like that, they get on you fast and they can score quick. I've not seen a team feed off the momentum like they do. Once they get a little momentum, they just run with it."
The Devils looked good on the game's opening drive, going 68 yards in 9 plays and scoring on Kane Tolliver's 8-yard touchdown carry to put Murphy ahead 7-0. But on their next two drives, Du Quoin's defense was up to the challenge, forcing a three-and-out and a turnover on downs at the Indians' 31 with 7:14 remaining in the half.
Du Quoin's offense up until that point had yielded four first downs, but no points. On this possession, the Indians rode their workhorse Zayne Fornear down the field on a 69-yard scoring drive that also included a 35-yard completion from quarterback Caleb Vogel to Jordan Edwards. Fornear, who had six carries on the drive, took it in from three yards out with 3:39 remaining for six points. He then ran in the two-point conversion, giving Du Quoin an 8-7 lead.
The Devils got a big touchdown leading into the half though, going 61 yards on 7 plays and scoring on Justin Pulcher's 5-yard run with just 47 seconds left in the second quarter. Murphy QB Braden Miller ran in the two-pointer and the Red Devils were up eight at the break.
Du Quoin's first two possessions after the half were disastrous. On the first, the Indians lost two yards before punting it away. That led to a 45-yard touchdown run by Tolliver, and a 22-8 Devils lead.
The Indians' second offensive drive ended with a fumble that gave Murphysboro the ball at the Du Quoin 40. Miller passed to Fulcher for a 37-yard gain and two plays later Clay Rendleman was in the end zone with a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Red Devils dominated the game from there out, adding touchdown runs by Rendleman and Tolliver in the fourth period.
"We knew that that's the type of team they are," Hill said. "When they can get on you, they keep the foot on the throttle. You can't make those types of mistakes that we made against them as well as they execute, as sound as they are. They don't beat themselves, they don't make a lot of mistakes. We've just got to clean those things up. We felt pretty good going into halftime, moving the ball, we kept the game shorter and that's what we were trying to do. Third quarter, they kind of forced the issue getting up a couple scores and kind of took us out of our game plan."
Tolliver finished with 123 yards rushing on 12 carries, Rendleman had 85 yards on 14 attempts.
For the Indians, Fornear topped the 100-yard mark for the ninth straight week with 103 yards on 25 carries. Clarry added 6 carries for 19 yards. Vogel completed 4-of-7 passes for 58 yards, connecting with Edwards (2-40), Clarry (1-14) and Cole Hopkins (1-14).
Both teams learned their playoff fate the following night. This coming Saturday, the Class 4A Red Devils (8-1) will host Carterville (6-3) while the Class 3A Indians (5-4) will have to travel all the way to Bloomington to take on Central Catholic (8-1) at 2 p.m.
"Monday when we get them in practice we'll say it's a new season," said Hill. "Everybody's 0-0 when you get in the playoffs, anything can happen. We've just got to make sure our guys are prepared on Monday."
To say the Indians got a "tough draw" would be an understatement. Not only did they get a three-and-a-half hour bus ride, but Central Catholic is the third-ranked team in Class 3A and hasn't played a single team with an enrollment smaller than Du Quoin's all season. Their lone loss to was in week one to unbeaten, top-ranked Class 5A Washington, 10-7.