Friday Night Lights: Improving Tribe Notches Second SIRR Win
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The state's 10th-ranked Class 3A football team withstood every punch thrown its way by a tenacious group of Chester Yellowjackets Friday night. And then some.
Scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final seven minutes, Du Quoin pulled away for its fourth win in five starts and 58th victory all-time against Chester.
A 35-20 triumph pushed Du Quoin to 2-0 within River-to-River Conference play in the Mississipi Division.
Chester is 4-1 and 1-1. The Indians host Perry County rival Pinckneyville next week. Du Quoin and Anna-Jonesboro share the division lead with Pinckneyville and Chester next. Nashville and Sparta are both 0-2.
"I feel like we beat a good football team tonight," Indians coach Al Martin said.
"This was a total team effort. We had great efforts from so many different kids."
Two-yard touchdown runs by seniors David Gaytan and Matt Gossett sealed Du Quoin's victory in the fourth quarter, but there were plenty of scary moments for the Tribe.
Du Quoin led just 21-20 with 7:12 left when linebacker Evon Stollhans intercepted a pass by Chester's Zach Lochhead deep in Yellowjackets territory. A 15-yard return by Stollhans moved the ball to the 16-yard line. After Aaron Smith busted free on a 14-yard run, Gaytan blasted in from the two. Cayle Diggins followed with PAT kick and Du Quoin was ahead 28-20 at the 6:56 mark.
"That was just a huge play for us." Martin said. "Evon is just a great hustler and sometimes just by hustling, you can make big plays. And he did."
A sack by Jonathon Tennyson gave the Indians possession again and A five-minute drive- which included 45 yards on six carries and two key runs from Smith- ended on Matt Gossett's two-yard plunge.
Chester jumped ahead barely five minutes into the game on John Baughman's 65-yard TD run, but Du Quoin answered quickly for a 1406 lead on Smith's 14-yard run and a 9-yard pass from Gossett to David Rose.
Gossett and Marcus Clarry connected on a 31-yard touchdown strike late in the first half as the Indians opened a two score advantage. Chester, however, would answer quickly and trailed just 21-14 at halftime.
Tim Sullins' 1-yard run and a pass from Lochhead to Baughman pulled the 'Jackets within 21-20.
Smith led Du Quoin's balanced ground game with 101 yards on 16 rushes. Gaytan ran for 93 more on 17 tries. Gossett was 10-of-15 passing for 160 yards, all but 23 going to Clarry (73 yards) and Rose (64 yards).
Defensively, Clarry had nine tackles. Stollhans and Jeril Holmes each recorded eight stops. Bryce Hamburger added seven.
Look for a complete story on the game in Monday's Call.
Du Quoin 35, Chester 20
Du Quoin 14 7 0 14-35
Chester 6 8 6 0- 20
First Quarter
C- Baughman 65 run (run failed), 7:02
DQ-Smith 14 run (Diggins kick), 4:29
DQ- M. Gossett 9 pass to David Rose (Diggins kick), 4.2
Second Quarter
DQ-M. Gossett 31 pass to Marcus Clarry (Diggins kick), 1:08
C- LOchhead 46 pass to Cole (Lochhead pass to Baughman), 49.7
Third Quarter
C- Sullins 1 run (run failed), 7:46
Fourth Quarter
DQ- Gaytan 2 run (Diggins kick), 6:56
DQ- M.Gossett 1 run (Diggins kick), 1:06
TEAM STATISTICS
DQ C
First downs 20 16
Rushing yards 204 228
Passing yards 160 88
Yardage lost -17 -14
Total net yards 347 302
Comp-att-int 10-15-0 5-13-2
Punts-yards 4-111 3-78
Return yards 77 71
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Turnovers 0 2
Penalties 4-45 4-42
Poss time 22:11 25:49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Du Quoin: Gaytan 17-93, Smith 16-101, M. Gossett 3-10.
Chester: Sullins 18-65, Cole 4-33, Baughman 11-124, Roth 2-2, Lochhead 1-2.
PASSSING- Du Quoin: M. Gossett 10-15, 160 yards, 2 TD.
Chester:Lochhead 5-13-88 yards, i TD, 1 PAT.
RECEIVING: Du Quoin: D. Rose 5-64, M. Clarry 4-73, J. Williams 1-23.
Chester: Baughman 2-9, Woodward 1-4, Cole 1-46, Sullins 1-29.
TACKLES- Du Quoin (solos-assists-total): Kanat 2-4-6, P. Jones 2-3-5, Hamburger 3-4-7, Tennyson 1-2-3, Holmes 3-5-8,
Heape 1-1-2, Stollhans 4-4-8, M. Clarrry 4-5-9, D. Rose 1-1-2, Reed 3-2-5, Hoffman 1-0-1, B. Williams 1-0-1, Baxter 1-0-1, Diggins 1-0-1, Porter 1-0-1, Bland 1-0-1.
QB SACKS- Hamburger 1, P Jones 1, Tennyson 1.
PUNT RETURNS- Du Quoin: M. Clarry 1-8.
KICK RETURNS-Du Quoin: Gaytan 1-25, Baxter 1-17.
INTERCEPTIONS- Du Quoin: D. Rose, Stollhans
OFFICIALS- Scott Hale crew.
ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE- 2,250.
WEATHER-Dry, 70.