News

FOOTBALL: Baxter, Fred spark Du Quoin victory

Posted October 17, 2011 11:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It was a night when new and familiar faces both made big contributions, as Du Quoin won after a loss for the third time in 2011 this past Friday, knocking off Nashville 34-21 to wrap up a second-place tie in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division.

Du Quoin's victory along with Anna-Jonesboro's loss to Carterville means the Wildcats, Lions and Indians can all claim a share of second place in the conference at 3-2.

Brenden Fred made his first start at quarterback for the injured Sam Gossett, who suffered a torn ligament in week eight against Pinckneyville that will require surgery. Fred handled himself nicely, completing all 4 pass attempts for 65 yards and a touchdown while gaining 23 yards on 3 rushes.

"We feel like Brenden directed things very well, kept us very balanced," said Indians' head coach Al Martin. "We were able to get our offense on the field, the offense executed well, the defense played well enough for us to earn a big victory."

Fred wasn't the only lineup change for the Indians, as running back Shayne Baxter made his season debut after a leg injury had kept him sidelined. Baxter looked sharp and with plenty of speed to burn, scorching the Hornets for 113 yards on just 12 carries, scoring a pair of touchdowns.

"That was a plus for us," Martin said of Baxter's debut. "It enabled us to do some different things offensively."

Cayle Diggins also appears healthy for Du Quoin after 79 yards on 5 carries and 3 catches for 44 yards.

The Indians marched 65 yards on their opening drive, a trek highlighted by Baxter's first carry of the season, a 29-yard scamper into Nashville territory. Fred would later find Diggins for a 10-yard touchdown, then tied on the kicking shoe for a 7-0 lead with 7:04 left in the opening quarter.

Du Quoin ate up almost five minutes with their drive, but the Hornets responded by taking almost eight minutes to go 80 yards on 15 plays to score without completing a pass.

Braedon Haertling took a pitch in from three yards out moments into the start of the second quarter to tie things up.

The Indians had an opportunity for more on their next possession, but Baxter fumbled near the goal line and the Hornets recovered in the end zone to take over at their own 20. Du Quoin dodged a bullet when quarterback Alex Caplin's fourth-and-nine pass attempt was dropped, giving the ball back to the Indians at their own 39 with 3:48 left in the half.

Runs by Baxter, Diggins and Trevon Jones chewed up most of the clock before Baxter plunged in from the two, and Du Quoin led 14-7 at the break.

Deeja Cole picked off Caplin just three plays into the second half, then a 17-yard run by Brandon Williams and a 31-yard pass from Fred-to-Diggins set up Fred's 1-yard keeper for a touchdown with 7:09 left in the third period.

Baxter scored again after the Indian defense forced another turnover on downs, then Bryce Willi recovered a fumbled to allow Trevon Jones' 3-yard score to put the game, seemingly, out of reach.

Nashville kept fighting, added two touchdowns and two onside-kick recoveries before Martin was forced to send the first-team defense back in for a late-game stop.

"We felt pretty good when we got up three touchdowns," said Martin. "We knew that their offense is a ground attack type of offense. We wanted people out of the game and we wanted other kids to finish the game out for us, but they kept onside kicking and recovering kickoffs. We had to have a stop, we put our first unit back in just to get the ball game over with."

The Indians had 323 yards on their 38 attempts, out-gaining Nashville 388-284 in total yardage. Jones (10 carries, 48 yards), Williams (5-26), and Antonio Smith (2-37) rounded out the rushing totals along with Baxter, Diggins and Fred.

Nashville (3-5, 2-3) was led by Haertling's 92 yards on 20 carries. Austin Hagene added 82 yards on his 17 tries.

Du Quoin (5-3, 3-2) will look to lock up a playoff spot in week nine when they host Murphysboro this Friday night.

Article Categories
News