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Bears Stay Perfect, League is 5-3
By admin | May 9, 2009
The wins featured the aforementioned SMS shutout of Union College; a No. 2 Southern Illinois 59-9 victory against William Penn; an
SMS 45, Union College 0
The SMS Bears jumped on top early with three touchdowns in the first half of the first period and coasted to a 45-0 win over the Union College Bulldogs in non-conference football action Saturday at Plaster Field.
The win pushed the Bears to 3-0 on the young season with one non-conference game left, a date at Division I-A Tulsa next Saturday (Sept. 25, 6:00 p.m.). It marks the first time the Bears have opened a season with three straight wins since 1989, when SMS began that year with six wins.
TB Cody Pratt got SMS off and running as he scored on three short runs in the first 16 minutes of the game as SMS was up 21-0 midway in the first period and 28-0 a minute into the second quarter.
S Jovon Lewis had two picks and returned his second interception 45 yards into the end zone for the third SMS touchdown after Pratt got the first two scores.
SMS had the ball just 22 minutes and ran off just 56 offensive plays in the contest but outgained Union 343-211 in total yards. Union is a member of the NAIA Mid-South Conference. Pratt finished with 97 yards on 17 carries for the Bears and TB Brandon Taylor gained 44 yards on eight carries.
Indiana State 28, Murray State 21
School offensive records seemed poised to be broken for both Indiana State (2-1) and Murray State (1-2) during a high-octane offensive first half which saw each team pile up 21 points before the intermission.
Both defenses, however, took control in the second half as a Sycamores' special teams score late in the third quarter proved to the be the only scoring in the second half, and the difference in the game as ISU won for the third time in a row versus MSU, 28-21.
With the score tied at 21, the ISU defense held the Racers to fourth-and-four from their own 18-yard line with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Murray's James Gaither was called on to punt, but junior LaDrelle Bryant blocked the punt into the waiting arms of freshman Markus Naves in the end zone to give the Sycamores a 28-21 advantage.
Sydney Montfort coupled three TD runs with 70 yards rushing to lead the ISU ground attack. Ben Schmidt continued his impressive play in his first collegiate start going 12 of 19 passing for 156 yards. Sophomore Sam Logan caught a team-high six passes for 58 yards while Naves has two catches for 61 yards and the recovery of the blocked punt for the go-ahead score.
No. 13 S.F. Austin 24, No. 7 UNI 21
The University of Northern Iowa football team fought back in the closing five minutes before falling to the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin 24-21 in the UNI-Dome.
In the fourth period the Lumberjacks lit a spark and scored 10 more points off of a 41-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Rossner and an eight-yard touchdown reception by Farmer. The Farmer touchdown was scored with a 5:45 left up on the clock, but the Panthers fought back with an 80-yard drive up the field. On the fifth play of the drive, QB Tom Petrie snuck into the end zone from one yard out to put the Panthers down by just three after the extra point made by sophomore kicker Brian Wingert with 4:20 left to go in the game, but that's as close as UNI would get.
Senior tailback Richard Carter led the Panthers in rushing with 50 total yards. Junior tailback Terrance Freeney ) rushed for just 14 yards, playing on a turned ankle suffered during the game. Leading the Panthers in receiving was Justin Surrency with nine receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 10 Western Ky. 21, Eastern Kentucky 8
The "Battle of the Bluegrass" lived up to its billing with a scoreless first half in a rivalry game. Then the Western offense matched the defense's performance to lead the 10th-ranked Hilltoppers to their third consecutive win over instate rival Eastern Kentucky.
Lerron Moore scored three times in the second half Saturday as WKU earned a 21-8 non-conference victory over the Colonels at Roy Kidd Stadium. He finished with a season-high 113 yards on 26 carries after sitting out last week's win over Concord.
The Topper defense, led by Charles Thompson?s career-high 18 stops, held Eastern to just 260 total yards - 146 before the final two drives - while forcing seven Colonel turnovers.
Thompson had two-and-a-half tackles for loss and also broke up a pair of passes. Getty Cavitt added 13 with three behind the line of scrimmage and an interception, while Daniel Williams also accounted for three tackles for loss.
Hampton 40, No. 15 Western Illinois 20
Western Illinois fell in non-conference I-AA action at Hampton, 40-20.
The Leathernecks (1-2) got on the board first with a 27-yard field goal from Justin Langan with 2:41 left in the quarter, but were dominated throughout the remainder of the first half by the Pirates (3-0).
With 7:18 on the clock in the third quarter, Western's Travis Glasford scored the Leatherneck's first TD of the game on an 11-yard run to cut Hampton's lead to 33-10. Nearly two minutes later, Langan put his foot to work again for his second field goal of the game to give Western three more in the third. But Hampton used a two-yard run to seal the win for the Pirates with 10:00 left in the game
Glasford led Western's running and receiving game with 98 yards rushing and touchdown, on top of 73 yards receiving. Langan recorded two field goals and two PATs.
No. 2 Southern Illinois 59, William Penn 9
Running backs Arkee Whitlock and Brandon Jacobs scored two touchdowns apiece, in the first half, and Southern Illinois University devoured William Penn 59-9 Saturday at McAndrew Stadium.
SIU quarterback Joel Sambursky was 8-of-10 with a touchdown pass, and an interception before being replaced at halftime. The Salukis (2-1), ranked No. 2 in both Division I-AA polls, led 35-6 at the half, which featured a pair of turnovers by each team.
Jacobs stiff-armed his way to the end zone from 23 yards out to put Southern Illinois on top 14-0 with five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. The game was never close as William Penn (1-2), of the NAIA, couldn't muster any kind of effective offense.
Illinois State 35, Eastern Illinois 31
Despite a fourth quarter deficit, the Illinois State football team came back on two late touchdowns, which resulted in a 35-31 victory Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
Illlinois State took a 14-7 lead after Yance Vaughan connected with Jason Horton, but a Ben Brown interception on Vaughan late in the second quarter led to an Adam Parsill touchdown catch, tying the game 14-14.
A third quarter touchdown and fourth quarter field goal put the Panthers up 24-21, and they were given some breathing room when Chad Cleveland forced a LaShawn Bullock fumble at the Illinois State 30. The ball sailed into the hands of Jamarr Day, who ran 30 yards down the sideline and into the end zone for a 30-21 lead.
However, the Redbirds gained the lead back on two touchdowns, one a 2-yard run by Earl Newby, the other a 3-yard quarterback keeper by Vaughan, making the score 35-31. The Vaughan touchdown was set up when Eastern Illinois fumbled a kickoff at their own 22, which was recovered by Pierre Jackson.
No. 17 McNeese State 24, Youngstown State 20
Youngstown State rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit and took a 20-17 lead early in the fourth quarter, but McNeese State scored off a Penguin fumble with 6:24 remaining for a 24-20 victory at Cowboy Stadium on Saturday night.
The Penguins trailed 17-3 with 12:29 remaining in the third quarter before marching on two straight touchdown drives in 5 minutes, 57 seconds, but McNeese forced seven turnovers, three of which were in the final seven minutes of the contest, to sneak away with the win.
YSU tailback Monquante Gibson rushed for 168 yards on 23 carries, including running for 100 in the third quarter, to lead all rushers. Aaron Marshall, who came in on YSU's first scoring drive of the second half, was 7-of-13 for 45 yards and a touchdown, but he threw two interceptions in the final 5:15. Tom Zetts was 4-of-11 for 25 yards with one interception.
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