FOOTBALL: Aces are Golden in rout of Du Quoin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Mount Carmel quarterback Alex Hale ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, throwing for a third, and the Golden Aces rolled to a 35-0 win over Du Quoin at Van Metre Field on Saturday, advancing into next week's IHSA Class 3A state semifinals.
"(Du Quoin) did a good job of taking away our pitches and things we like to do on the perimeter," said Mt. Carmel head coach Darren Peach, "but fortunately Alex and our fullbacks were able to gouge them up the middle."
The No. 1-seeded Aces out-gained the Indians on the ground 335 yards to just 115 and dominated the line of scrimmage with their size up front.
"It was tough," said Du Quoin head coach Al Martin. "I don't know if we could have lined up defensively in one defense, (Mt. Carmel has) enough offense that they can counter with what they were doing."
"They spread you out and they keep a lot of people out of the box and that allows their linemen to execute one-on-one blocks and they do a good job of that."
Mt. Carmel kept it simple on their opening drive, either handing off to leading rusher Beau Grant or utilizing the wheels of Hale with a keeper.
Grant broke a gain of 29 yards on the Aces' second offensive play and eventually capped off the 10-play, 69-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run through the left side of his offensive line.
"It was a great way to start the game off," said Peach. "We would like to have been on defense first, but what a statement by the offense."
The Indians moved the ball initially, with quarterback Sam Gossett connecting with James Williams for a 14-yard gain and a first down, then Seth Baxter found some room near the left sideline for a 25-yard carry down to the Golden Aces' 41-yard line.
Baxter and Aaron Smith got the next three carries, but could muster only four yards and the Indians elected to punt on fourth-and-six from the Mt. Carmel 37.
Trent Bigham got the ball back for Du Quoin on defense, picking off Hale at the Indians' 40-yard line just before the end of the opening quarter as the Aces' quarterback fought heavy pressure from the defensive line.
The Indians turned the ball back over on the first play of the second quarter, however, as Baxter's fumble was pounced on by one of the Aces' defenders at the Mt. Carmel 48.
Both defenses made impressive stands and forced three-and-out by the offense, but Hale broke up the right sideline on a keeper for a 29-yard gain on the Aces' next possession.
Grant had 4 carries for 18 yards on the short drive and set up Hale's keeper from inches away on third-and-goal for a 14-0 Mt. Carmel advantage with 5:40 to go in the first half.
Baxter had the first three touches of the Indians' next series to earn a first down at the Du Quoin 36, then on third-and-seven, Gossett rolled to his right and fired a bullet to Brandon Williams near the sideline. The junior hauled in the pass and tucked out of bounds at the 45-yard line of Mt. Carmel with 3:12 remaining in the half.
After a loss of five on Baxter's first down attempt, an incompletion set up third-and-fifteen, and Gossett's five yard pass to Baxter meant another Indians' punt was forthcoming.
The Aces took over on their own 13-yard line and on first down Alex Kieffer took a handoff up the right side for a 39-yard gain down to the Du Quoin 48, then Hale converted a third-and-eleven with a keeper through the middle to the Indians' 35-yard line where Mt. Carmel called timeout with 0:43 seconds on the clock.
Out of the timeout, Hale fired to Shawn Bumpus, who beat a pair of defenders to the football for the over-the-shoulder grab and a 21-0 Aces' lead at the break.
"That really gives you a lot of momentum going into halftime, if we could have stopped that," said Martin. "It just seemed like all day long we couldn't get the momentum going."
With the hole getting bigger, Du Quoin needed to take advantage of receiving the second half kickoff, and seemed to be in business after a first down at the Aces' 30-yard line with 8:20 to go in the third, the deepest the Indian offense had been into Mt. Carmel territory.
Two handoffs to Baxter yielded just a yard, and Gossett's pass to J. Williams was just past the line of scrimmage to set up fourth-and-eight with the game possibly on the line.
Gossett had B. Williams open but the Indians' tight end couldn't come up with the grab and Du Quoin turned it over on downs.
The Indians got another chance to get back into the game after forcing a turnover on downs at their own 47-yard line, but went three-and-out and gave the Aces good field position just before the start of the fourth quarter.
"We had to do some things that we haven't done," Martin said. "We threw the ball a lot, and we've been running the ball a lot, and when you run the ball a lot, you're not great pass blockers."
"We'd rather run the football and play-action pass, that makes it a lot easier on your offense, but they knew that we had to throw the football and they came at us pretty hard."
Kiefer scored on an 11-yard carry with 10:05 to go in the game, and Hale took it in from 34 yards out with 1:29 left on the clock to complete the scoring for Mt. Carmel while the Aces' defense completed their first shutout of 2010.
"What a time for the first shutout of the season," said Peach. "The guys did a good job of stepping it up when they had to."
Baxter topped the century mark again with his 111 yards on 23 carries to lead the Indians.
Gossett connected on 6-of-12 passes for 64 yards before Brenden Fred took over late in the game and was 1-for-2 passing for 18 yards. J. Williams had 3 catches for 22 yards, Diggins 2-39, B. Williams 1-16 and Baxter 1-5.
"I'm very proud of our kids," commented Martin. "That's the rewarding part about coaching is bringing kids a long way and we feel like we had some kids who came a long way on the field and off the field. We're real happy with the way our kids improved throughout the year."
Kieffer joined Hale over 100 yards rushing with his 113 on 11 attempts, Grant added 77 yards on 14 carries. Hale attempted just three passes, completing only one for the touchdown by Bumpus (35 yards).
The 35-0 final was the first time Du Quoin had been shut out at Van Metre Field in the history of the IHSA playoffs dating back to 1984. The last time the Indians were shut out in the postseason was 1991 in their semifinal at Robinson. Du Quoin had not been held scoreless since a 2007 loss to Herrin in week three.
Mt. Carmel (11-1) travels to Fuzz Burges Field to face Carthage (Illini West) (12-0) this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a battle of No. 1 seeds in the IHSA Class 3A semifinals.
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