FOOTBALL: Turnovers cost Indians on opening night
DU QUOIN, IL - Three turnovers, two of which set up Highland scoring drives, cost the Indians dearly in Friday night's season opener in Du Quoin as the Bulldogs celebrated a 17-14 victory - their first since week nine of 2010.
The loss was the fourth in a row for a Du Quoin team on Van Metre Field as the Indians are now 1-4 at home since renovations prior to the 2011 season.
"(Highland is) a very much improved team," said Indians' head coach Al Martin. "We knew coming in they were big, they were definitely big, strong kids. They've done a good job, they executed very well, they spread us out and run it up inside. They had a little bit of size on us, and I think their size hurt us."
Du Quoin's first two possessions both ended similarly - with an interception off of a deflected pass in their own territory.
On the third play of the game, Indians' quarterback Brenden Fred was picked off near midfield but later bailed out by the defense.
After Highland took over near midfield and drove inside the ten, Du Quoin appeared to come up with a stop on fourth-and-seven but a defensive holding penalty gave the Bulldogs another crack at it. The defense held for a second straight fourth down play and DHS took over at their own six.
Running back Shayne Baxter and the Indians offense was moving the ball until Fred was intercepted again, this time deeper in Indian territory. Travis Chapman was the only thing between Kolby Mueller and a pick-six, pulling him down at the Du Quoin seven.
Blake Swearingen wasted no time putting Highland on top with a touchdown run on first down as the Bulldogs led 7-0 following the extra point with 2:49 to go in the opening quarter.
Du Quoin's most successful drive of the night would follow - a 12-play 73-yard effort that included big pass plays from Fred to Jonah Spencer for 19 yards, and to Daulton Donoghue for 20 yards. Once inside the red zone, Baxter and fullback Camden Youngman finished things off on the ground with Youngman going in untouched on a second-and-goal from the one to tie the score with 10:20 left in the half.
After a solid defensive stand, the Indians got the ball back at their own 20 and went to work again on a lengthy possession. Donoghue had a pair of grabs on the drive, which lasted 17 plays but ended when the offense stalled inside the Highland 20.
On a fourth-and-one from the Bulldogs four-yard line, Youngman couldn't get the needed yardage and Highland took over on downs just a few seconds before the end of the second quarter.
"I guess the disappointment is we should have stuck one in right before the half and we didn't get that done," Martin said. "We made some mistakes, that's just the way it goes."
"(Highland) executed very well, our execution hurt us, but we didn't quit. I was proud of the kids for their effort, there was some good football out there tonight, very good football."
The Bulldogs took their turn at a clock-eating drive to open the third, marching down to the Indians' 15-yard line behind leading rusher Blake Perfetti, who finished with 120 yards on 27 carries for Highland. Freshman kicker Zeke Kaufman put a 32-yard field goal through with 6:00 left in the third to give the Bulldogs a 10-7 edge.
Momentum seemed to be swinging in Highland's favor after Fred's third INT later in the period. The Bulldogs again took advantage of a short field in front of them and rode Perfetti in for a 17-7 lead.
The Indians stuck around after a facemask penalty gave them the ball at Highland's 27, then Baxter broke a couple runs for a first down at the 16. From there, Fred connected with Jonah Spencer for a diving touchdown catch to cut it to 17-14 following Fred's extra point with 11:05 left in the game.
"(Fred) made some plays and he didn't make some plays, but I'm pretty happy with what he did," Martin said. "We've got a lot of faith in him, it's just tough sledding sometimes."
Du Quoin's defense got them the ball back twice, but the offense couldn't produce any points on either possession. Perfetti spearheaded the final drive of the game with a key first down on third-and-two with just over two minutes to play. Highland quarterback Spencer Holzinger was able to take a knee in the closing seconds following a fourth-down pass completion with 37 seconds on the clock.
"They made more plays than us late in the ball game," said Martin. "We just couldn't come up with something."
Baxter led a pack of Du Quoin rushers with his 95 yards on 18 attempts. The Indians totaled 131 yards on their 32 carries against Highland.
"Shayne Baxter had a pretty decent game, we expected that out of him," said Martin. "Camden Youngman, the first time running fullback, he did a pretty decent job. Jonah Spencer did a good job running and receiving. We want to get more backs involved but it was just kind of hard to get in the flow of it."
Fred finished 13-for-22 in the air for 143 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Spencer caught four balls for 79 yards to lead the receivers. Donoghue added 3 catches for 38 yards.
Highland won the game despite being out-gained in yardage 274-227.
The Indians (0-1) will look to get back on track in week two when they host Harrisburg.