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The Road to Champaign. Round #2:Unity's Powerful Rockets Blast by Du Quoin

Posted November 08, 2009 10:00 pm

Jeff Profitt

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[With temperatures around 70 degrees and a stiff wind blowing almost directly from the south, Saturday's weather in Champaign County more resembled early spring than late fall.

For Du Quoin High School's Football team, however, -and its legion of fans who made the nearly three hour drive to Tolono-the day turned gloomy and cold very, very quickly.

A dominant Tolono Unity squad took control of things early, rolling past the Indians 47-7 in Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 3A second round play at Oscar Hicks Field.

The Rockets, 11-0, advanced into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005 and will play at surprising Nashville (7-4) next week. The Hornets needed a pair of overtimes to eliminate Auburn Saturday, 47-41.

Du Quoin ended the season 9-2, winning at least nine games for the 22nd time since 1984.

"They beat us in every phase of the game," Indians coach Al Martin admitted. "We knew coming up here it was going to be a great challenge to beat them. We got a couple of injuries early to some very key people and that sure didn't help us any. It was just a tough, tough day."

The Indians lost two-way senior standout David Rose to a badly sprained ankle after just six plays. Midway through the second quarter, Du Quoin's speedy halfback, Aaron Smith, went down with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. Neither player returned.

Unity forged ahead with a first quarter touchdown run by all-state quarterback Dylan Sturgeon (27 carries, 199 yards, three TD) on its first possession.

Jared Miller's PAT kick gave the home squad a 7-0 lead just six minutes into the contest.

The margin reached 14-0 on the second play of the second period when Strugeon rumbled in from the five-yard line. Miller again kicked the extra point.

Du Quoin, struggling badly for yardage with Rose out and Unity's defense stiffening, hit on its lone big play of the day two plays after Sturgeon's score.

Matt Gossett hit Marcus Clarry at full stride on a slant and the play covered 68 yards before Clarry was finally dragged down at the Indian six-yard line.

Four plays later-on fourth and goal-Smith ran up the middle to score from the four. Cayle Diggins' extra point suddenly gave Du Quoin new life, cutting the margin down to 14-7.

Unity, however, needed just over three minutes to regain its two touchdown edge. An eight play series ended when Matt Franks (21 rushes, 122 yards, three TD) burrowed in from the seven.

Miller's kick was again true, making the score 21-7 with 5:28 left before intermission.

Du Quoin would lose Smith on its next possession and was forced to punt, but managed to put together its best defensive stand of the game as Tolono again threatened.

Unity would march all the way down to the eight-yard line in the closing seconds of the half, but the drive would stall as time expired.

Held to just a pair of first downs, Du Quoin's offense went to the lockerroom with just 87 yards of total offense.

Things would get no better in the second half as Strugeon's 39-yard run set up another short TD run by Franks. The score reached 35-7 at the 3:11 mark when Sturgeon tossed a 23-yard pass to Austin Perry, a 6-foot-5 receiver who barely won a jump ball over Indian cornerback J.C. Davis at the goal line.

"I think we played pretty well all over," Unity coach Scott Hamilton said. "We've shown flashes all year long and haven't been able to put things all together until today."

In the fourth quarter, Unity tacked on two more TD. Franks scored again from the six and wide receiver Dustin Jolley broke free for a 90-yard score on an end around.

Jolley (four carries, 111 yards) was the third Rocket rusher to eclipse the 100-yard mark. All totalled, Unity rolled up 494 yard rushing and had 522 total net offensive yards.

Du Quoin was held to a season-low 118 yards and could gain just 57 yards on the ground. Smith had 18 yards with David Gaytan and Seth Baxter adding 17 each.

Clarry, Jerel Holmes and Chaz Bland all managed 11 tackles for the Indians. Jamor Reed added 10 and blocked a PAT. Holmes also had a fumble recovery.

Three Unity defenders-Matt McCoskey, Jordan Reinhart and Kyle Henson-enjoyed six tackle efforts.

"Dylan Sturgeon receives a lot of credit for our success," Hamilton said. "But our kids up front are playing awfully well now. Du Quoin was very big and talented. But we were able to set the tone early."

Martin agreed.

"They are going to be a tough team to beat," he said. "That's a very good ballclub."

Tolono Unity 47, Du Quoin 7

Unity 7 14 14 12-47

Du Quoin 0 7 0 0- 7

First Quarter

TU- Sturgeon 7 run (Miller kick), 5:49

TU- Strugeon 5 run (Miller kick), 10:19

Second Quarter

DQ- Smith 4 run (Diggins kick), 8:17

TU- Franks 5 run (Miller kick), 5:28

Third Quarter

TU-Franks 6 run (Miller kick), 9:39

TU- Sturgeon 23 pass to Perry (Miller kick), 4:11

Fourth Quarter

TU- Franks 6 run (kick failed), 7:35

TU- Jolley 90 run (kick blocked), 3:44

TEAM STATISTICS

DQ TU

First downs 6 25

Rushing yards 57 494

Passing yards 92 39

Yards lost -27 -11

Total net yards 118 522

Comp-att-int 5-12-0 2-8-39

Punts-yards 5-209 1-27

Return yards 91 41

Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1

Turnovers 1 1

Penalties 2-10 2-20

Poss time 17:12 30:48

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Du Quoin: Smith 5-18, Gaytan 7-17, M. Gossett 3- (-7), Bigham 1-5, Baxter 3-17.

Unity: Sturgeon 27-195, Franks 21-122, Jolley 4-111, Gooch 6-46, Laferhagen 4-20.

RECEIVING

Du Quoin: M. Clarry 3-87, B. Williams 2-5.

Unity: Perry 1-23, Gooch 1-6.

PASSING

Du Quoin: M.Gossett 5-12, 92 yards; Bigham 0-0

Unity: Sturgeon 2-8, 39 yards, 1 TD; McLaughlin 0-0.

TACKLES

Du Quoin (solo-assists-total): Kabat 1-4-5, P. Jones 3-3-6, Hamburger 1-4-5, B. Williams 1-2-3, Bland 5-6-11, Stolhans 3-4-7, Holmes 6-5-11, M. Clarry 5-6-11, Rose 1-0-1, Reed 5-5-10, Hoffman 1-0-1, Nevill 1-0-1, Baxter 0-1-1, Heape 0-1-1, Payne 0-1-1, S. Clarry 0-1-1, J. Williams 1-0-1, Bigham 1-0-1, Morgenstern 1-0-1.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES

Du Quoin: Holmes

Unity: Howe

KICKOFF RETURNS

Du Quoin: Bigham 4-34, Smith 1-20, Baxter 2-37.

Unity: Friedmann 2-23

PUNT RETURNS:

Unity: Perry 1-18.

WEATHER: Sunny and windy, 70.

FIELD CONDITIONS: dry.

ESTIMATED ATTENDANCE: 3,600

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