FOOTBALL: Porter's INT puts Du Quoin in round two
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ A late game-saving interception by Luchie Porter and a tie-breaking touchdown by Seth Baxter with 3:18 left in the game propelled Du Quoin past Anna-Jonesboro 28-21 and into round two of the 2010 IHSA Class 3A playoffs.
Baxter's touchdown, the second of the game for the senior fullback, capped off an 11-play, 80-yard drive to put the Indians on top as time wound down in the fourth quarter.
After the kickoff, the Wildcats drove into Indians' territory at the 31-yard line with just under a minute to go when quarterback Aaron Smithey's deep ball was picked off by Porter, enabling Du Quoin to run out the clock and seal the victory in front of a packed house at Van Metre Field.
"The kids executed," said Indians' head coach Al Martin.
"Anna-Jonesboro and Coach (Brett) Detering and their staff, they executed very well offensively. They played their game, we played our game and we came out on top. We saw some pretty good execution of football out there today."
The Indians also began the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive as quarterback Sam Gossett connected with James Williams around the Du Quoin 35-yard line, and the senior wideout did the rest, shedding a tackle before sprinting to the end zone for a 76-yard score.
The Indians' defense looked stout early, forcing a three-and-out to set up a run-dominated 78-yard drive by the offense.
Aided by a couple of offsides penalties on the defense, the Indians made good use of Baxter and Aaron Smith who shared the carries on the 14-play drive before Smith broke free for a 20-yard touchdown with 41.2 seconds left in the opening quarter.
After a good return, the Wildcats' option attack went to work in the second quarter utilizing Smithey and fullback Taylor Fitzgerald on every play of a 51-yard touchdown drive. Smithey dove through the middle with 8:34 to go in the half to cut the Du Quoin lead to 14-7.
A 20-yard pass from Gossett-to-Smith and big running plays from Baxter and Cayle Diggins helped set up Baxter's 1-yard touchdown run with 3:40 to go in the half, but A-J would respond once again.
Fitzgerald broke a 40-yard gain on the second play of the Wildcats' next drive, and a few plays later A.J. Baker dove in through the left side of the line for a 2-yard touchdown with 1:15 on the clock.
An A-J interception of Gossett led to the end of the half as the Wildcats were content to take over possession after the break.
Neither team reached the red zone in the third quarter, but just before the end of the period the Wildcats were able to earn a first down at the Indians' 34 on a 6-yard run by Smithey.
Smithey and Fitzgerald continued to do the dirty work for A-J, pounding their way towards the goal line, usually behind 6'0, 350-lb. lineman Josiah Miller, lined up to the left of the center.
Fitzgerald scored from six yards out with 8:11 remaining in the ball game to tie things up at 21-21.
"They're going to pound it at you and they did that and they did a good job of that, they did an exceptionally good job of pounding it at us," said Martin.
In desperate need of a score, Du Quoin marched 80 yards and ate up nearly five minutes of clock in the process to take the lead.
"We had to have a drive, we weren't able to stop them," Martin said. "We had to take some time off the clock. Our kids blocked."
Baxter's 19-yard gain on first and ten from the A-J 41 got them near the red zone, and Smith made a cut and spun his way to the 8-yard line just a play later.
On second and goal from the five, Baxter ran a sweep to the left and fought his way through defenders for the deciding touchdown.
Anna-Jonesboro had to mount a drive, but had shown an inability (or reluctance) to throw the football throughout the game.
After Fitzgerald had another big gain to set up a first down at the Indians' 31-yard line, Porter stepped up on second and ten to kill the drive.
"We knew they had to throw the ball, and Luchie Porter came up with a big interception for us," said Martin. "With athletes like they've got, their quarterback, their fullback, their receivers can break one, so that interception late in the game was big."
Baxter was over the century mark again with 125 rushing yards on 25 carries to lead the Indians. Smith carried 15 times for 98 yards, Diggins 3-23, Gossett 4-(-5). Gossett completed 4-of-7 passes for 133 yards, with J. Williams (2-87), Smith (1-20) and Brandon Williams (1-16) catching the football.
Fitzgerald had a game-high 151 yards on 21 carries for the Wildcats, Smithey added 94 yards on his 23 attempts. A-J did not complete a pass in the entire game.
The second-seeded Indians will have to hit the road in round two of the playoffs, as sixth-seeded Carterville knocked off third-seeded Harrisburg on the Bulldogs home field. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. this Saturday.