Friday Night Lights: Indians, Herrin Hoping to Bounce Back
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Since its 1993 comeback, the long-running gridiron series between Du Quoin and Herrin has developed more than its fair share of plots and sub-plots.
While the story lines aren't quite spicy enough to draw the attention of Stephen King, J. K. Rowling or Stephanie Myers, another interesting chapter is about to unfold.
The Indians (1-1) and Tigers (0-2) meet for the 33rd time Friday night in Du Quoin.
With the series all square at 15-15-2, the Indians hope to bounce back from three consecutive losses to Class 4A Herrin.
Kickoff is set for 7 o'clock as Du Quoin starts its 75th season at historic Van Metre Field, which first hosted an Indians vs. Herrin battle in 1939.
Tigers coach Jason Karnes (4th year, 23-11)is a Du Quoin graduate and even quarterbacked the Indians to a state title back in 1992.
The middle son of legendary Indians coach and current Tigers assistant Bob Karnes, Jason has never lost to his prep coach-and Hall of Fame Du Quoin mentor- Al Martin.
"It's an extra special game," said J. Karnes, who grew up just a screen pass down the street from Van Metre Field. "It's going to be a tough environment. It's their home opener and that's a big deal up there. It's a great place to play a high school football game."
Herrin suffered through fumble and mistake-plagued losses to Glasgow, Ky. (26-22) and Carbondale (21-12) in its first two weeks while the Indians survived Bethalto Civic Memorial (35-28) before a humbling 41-12 loss at Harrisburg.
"We've just got to keep working to get better," Martin (22nd year, 215-44; 9-7 vs. Herrin) said. "The Harrisburg game showed us that we have a lot of areas to improve on. Herrin's another big and strong football team. They have several big, strong and quick running backs."
Halfbacks David Mallow (6'2, 205, sr.) and Demario Harris (6'3, 205, so.) are the leading ground gainers. Tyler Gooden (6'1, 235, sr.) is the fullback.
Quarterback Trey Wilcox (6'2, 190, sr.) and speedy receiver Marshall Anderson (6'1, 190, sr.) also have good size.
First-year player and basketball standout Alex Brown is a 6-foot-10 wide receiver.
A beefy set of interior lines is led by two-way tackles Zeb Williams (6'3, 250, jr.) and Brandon Bates (5'10, 195, sr.).
Herrin's other starters are in the 230-240 lbs. range.
Gooden anchors the defense at linebacker with Mallow a physical presence at safety.
"Once again, they have very good speed and quickness," Martin said of Herrin. "They don't have a lot of the state track championship speed they've had in the past, but they do have several kids capable of making big plays with their speed. "
Du Quoin is hoping to avoid back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since consecutive 2000 setbacks to Harrisburg and Herrin.
The 41 points surrendered last week were the most since LeRoy put 48 on the board during the 2001 state semifinals.
Oddly enough, the last time Du Quoin allowed more than 60 points in consecutive games came in the 1999 playoffs, 26 in a win over Massac County and 35 while losing at Lombard Montini.
Senior two-way standouts David Rose (WR-S), Marcus Clarry (WR-S), Jamor Reed (RB-CB), Matt Gossett (QB-OLB) and Alex Heape (C-MLB) have led Du Quoin's offense while also starting on defense.
The quintet seldom leaves the field with Rose, M. Clarry and Heape also working special teams.
A sixth senior, David Gaytan, joins Reed as the squads rushing leader.
"They're coming off a loss and they usually get their mistakes corrected so hopefully we get our mistakes corrected and go up there and give them a test," J. Karnes said.
Martin's depth will get a huge boost Friday as five juniors return after missing the first two games.
Hoping to make immediate impacts are Jerrill Holmes (FB-LB), James Williams (WR-CB), Seth Baxter (RB-CB), Chaz Bland (RB-LB) and speedy transfer Aaron Smith (RB-LB).
WDQN AM (1580) broadcasts the game live, starting with pre-game activities at 6:40 p.m.
The Southeast Missouri Hospital WebCast on KFVS12.com is scheduled to present the game as one of its 10 2009 regular season marquee match-up's.
The multi-camera WebCast will be presented live around the world at KFVS12.com, and then archived on the web site for users to watch at their convenience.