FOOTBALL: Du Quoin rolls into round two with 47-12 rout of Johnston City
Du Quoin's offense had the ball for just one minute and six seconds of the first half, but were able to find their groove after the break, bouncing Johnston City from the IHSA Class 2A Football Playoffs in round one by the score of 47-12 on Saturday afternoon at Van Metre Field.
Despite allowing Johnston City to control the time-of-possession battle in the early-going, the Indians from Du Quoin still led at the half thanks to a kickoff return by Deeja Cole and a interception return by Austin Pinski.
"You've just got to commend (Johnston City) for their game plan, they did a super job of execution," said DHS head football coach Al Martin. "Their quarterback was watching the clock and they were burning as much time as they possibly could. I told the kids I was very proud of them at halftime, they controlled their emotions, they didn't get upset. It's a different type of game, I've never been involved in a game like that before."
The visiting Indians from the Black Diamond Conference did their best to play keep-away from the Indians of the SIRR Mississippi Division, chewing up 9 minutes and 41 seconds of game clock with their opening drive of the contest. Jory Kee's one-yard touchdown plunge with 2:19 to go in the first quarter put Johnston City on top 6-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Cole broke an 83-yard return for a touchdown that took just 13 seconds off the clock. Brenden Fred's extra point gave Du Quoin a 7-6 lead.
Johnston City continued to control possession of the football on offense in the second quarter, but this time Du Quoin's defense was ready to make a play. Pinski picked off J. City quarterback Levi Tanner and took it to the house for six with 10:36 left in the first half, a 36-yard interception for a touchdown.
"The kickoff return by Deeja Cole - man, what a big play," said Martin. "That just got us back in it, that's all part of the game. Deeja made a big play for us there and then Pinski makes the interception, great return."
The time of possession battle further tipped towards Johnston City before the half, but a red-zone fumble with just over a minute to go in the second quarter turned the ball over to the host Indians. Du Quoin got the ball with 1:06 to play in the half at their own 7, but couldn't put together a drive before the break.
While Johnston City's offense struggled a bit after halftime following the loss of running back Tyler Johnson to a concussion, Du Quoin's started to find a rhythm.
A big run by Shayne Baxter, who led DHS with 155 yards on just 6 carries, helped set up Fred's 4-yard TD run with 9:47 left in the third. A stop on defense was followed by a 71-yard TD by Baxter with 6:35 on the clock in the third to give Du Quoin a 26-6 lead.
"We knew we had to come in and play perfect," said Johnston City head coach Dan Mings. "Had we not had those turnovers, I think we sort of had them on the ropes reeling a little bit. We felt really good about the game plan in the first half, then we lost Tyler Johnson and that sort of changed things around."
The big plays kept coming for Du Quoin - a 43-yard pass from Fred to Daulton Donoghue, a 38-yard pass from Fred to Travis Chapman, and a 53-yard run by Antonio Smith all resulted in fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Indians.
"We knew that the offense that Du Quoin ran was a little bit different than anything we'd seen this year as far as athleticism goes, so the whole goal was just to keep the ball away," said Mings. "We gave it everything we had, we busted our tails, the game plan by the coaches and the kids was good. Sometimes you get out-manned. For what it was, our kids did a great job today and we're proud of them."
Smith (1-53), Cole (1-6), Fred (1-4), Camden Youngman (5 carries, 42 yards), Kody Hess (2-19) and Hunter Farmer (1-2) also helped account for Du Quoin's 231 rushing yards. Fred added 4-for-6 on passing for 110 yards with throws to Donoghue (3-72) and Champan (1-38).
Cole sat out much of the second half after suffering what Martin called a "banged-up knee," but the staff held him out for precautionary reasons and the senior RB/DB/KR should be ready to go next week.
Kee rushed 23 times for 78 yards to lead Johnston City. Johnson (13-55), Tanner (3-1), Christian Dawes (2-13) and Nick Summers (1-0) also contributed to the visiting Indians' 348 yards on the ground. Tanner completed 4-of-7 passes for 29 yards with 3 INTs.
Johnston City turned the ball over four times in the game with three of those turnovers leading to Du Quoin points.
"Returning a kickoff gets you back in a game real quick, that helped us," Martin said. "Defensively, we made a slight adjustment in our defensive line that helped us, but man, they've got some size up front. They were picking up three and four yards at a time. Our kids were doing everything we asked them to do, I think we were maybe getting out-manned a little bit at times."
Du Quoin (8-2) will make a four-hour trek in round two to face the undefeated and top-seeded Blue Devils of Bismarck-Henning High School. Bismarck defeated Georgetown-Ridge Farm 55-13 on Saturday.
Johnston City finishes 2012 with a varsity record of 7-3.