Friday Night Lights: Tribe Streamrolls Murphysboro in Playoff Tune-up
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[As it turned out, Du Quoin High School's Football team may indeed be saving its best for last.
After Friday's performance against Murphysboro, it would be hard to argue against that statement.
Exploding for 35 second quarter points- a spurt which included three touchdowns in a 54 second span- the Indians romped past Murphysboro 49-0 on Senior Night, completing an 8-1 regular season.
Du Quoin and 255 other statewide qualifiers will learn their collective state playoff fates when pairings are released by the IHSA at mid-evening Saturday.
Murphysboro ended its season with a 3-6 record.
Aaron Smith scored on a 30-yard dash on Du Quoin's first play from scrimmage and the Indians were never headed.
Smith (eight carries, 90 yards) added a pair of 9-yard TD jaunts in the second quarter as Du Quoin went ahead 21-0.
There would be three more Indian TD's before intermission; runs of 14, 2 and 10 yards by the trio of David Gaytan (nine carries, 76 yards), Jamor Reed and Seth Baxter.
Baxter scored the lone second half touchdown on a 6-yard run.
Defensively, the Indians held Murphysboro to just 123 total yards and forced five turnovers.
Chaz Bland had six tackles, intercepted a pass and blocked a punt. Jerel Holmes added five tackles and a fumble recovery.
Look for more details on this victory- and information on Du Quoin's first round playoff opponent-later this weekend.
The complete stories will appear in Monday's print edition of The Call.
With 34 power points and an 8-1 record, the Indians expect to host a first round game next week, most likely in Class 3A.
Du Quoin 49, Murphysboro 0
Murphysboro 0 0 0 0- 0
Du Quoin 7 35 0 7- 49
First Quarter
DQ- Smith 30 run (Diggins kick), 10:01
Second Quarter
DQ- Smith 9 run (Diggins kick), 11:55
DQ- Smith 9 run (Diggins kick), 11:33
DQ- Gaytan 14 run (Diggins kick), 11:01
DQ- Reed 2 run (Diggins kick), 5:12
DQ- Baxter 10 run (Diggins kick), 2:44
Fourth Quarter
DQ- Baxter 6 run (Diggins kick), 9:51
TEAM STATISTICS
DQ M
First downs 23 6
Rushing yards 307 83
Passing yards 78 51
Yards lost -18 -11
Total net yards 365 123
Comp-att-int 4-7-1 6-17-2
Punts-yards 1-19 2-31
Return yards 44 88
Turnovers 1 5
Penalties 4-25 1-5
Poss time 21:46 26:14
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Du Quoin: Smith 8-90, Gaytan 9-76, Baxter 9-61, S. Clarry 9-60, Bigham 2-22, Bledsoe 5-0, Rose 1-3, M. Gossett 2-4.
Murphy: McWilliams 7-48, Jarrett 6-38, Brooks 1-2, Baril 1- -6, Mueller 2- -1.
RECEIVING
Du Quoin: Rose 2-71, B.Williams 1-5, Davis 1-2.
Murphy: Mueller 1-32, Cook 1-19, Payne 2-2, Stanton 1-4 Jarrett 1-2.
PASSING
Du Quoin: M. Gossett 4-7, 78 yards, 1 INT.; Bigham 0-0: S. Gossett 0-0.
Murphy: Brooks 6-17, 51 yards, 2 INT.
TACKLES
Du Quoin (solo-assists-total): Kabat 0-1-1, P. Jones 0-1-1, B. Williams 1-0-1, Bland 5-1-6, Stolhans 2-1-3, Holmes 4-1-5, M.
Clarry 1-0-1, Rose 0-1-1, Reed 0-1-1, Hoffman 1-0-1, Davis 1-0-1, Pyron 1-0-1, S.Clarry 2-0-2, Morgenstern 2-3-5, Porter 1-0
-1, Gaytan 1-0-1, Baxter 2-0-2, Payne 0-2-2, J.Jones 0-2-2, Heatherly 0-1-1.
KICK RETURNS
DU Quoin: Davis 1-7.
BLOCKED KICKS
Du Quoin: Bland
FUMBLE RECOVERIES
Du Quoin: Holmes, Kabat Pyron
INTERCEPTIONS
Du Quoin: Rose, Bland
KNOCKDOWN PASSES
Du Quoin: M. Clarry 2, Holmes 2, Hoffman 2.
QB SACKS
Du Quoin: Bland
OFFICIALS: Brian Belcher crew
WEATHER: Windy, 55 degrees.
FIELD CONDITIONS: slick and soggy
ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE: 1,875