Saluki Sports with Fred Huff
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ It's definitely countdown time for McAndrew Stadium where SIU's football Salukis have only three more home games scheduled, barring, of course, receiving a berth in the post-season playoffs and a coveted home date.
While discussing the situation and wondering who would have the distinction of scoring SIU's final touchdown in the venerable facility, the obvious question came to our mind of who had scored the first.
That's an easily answered question we thought while reaching for an always nearby copy of our book on SIU's sports history.
Anyone who has thumbed through the 416 pages is aware that there are thousands and thousands of facts and figures. That's what it's all about. The name of the first player ever to score for SIU in its new football stadium would probably be in bold print. All caps.
Wrong! And are we embarrassed.
What's more, due to an ongoing remodeling project in the Du Quoin State Bank building where our office is located, we couldn't find supporting information from the 1938 season when the happening took place.
It's necessary to back up just a bit and explain that SIU first played in McAndrew Stadium in 1937. The structure was not yet completed, but the Maroons -- the team's nickname in those years -- played four games there in '37 before actually dedicating the stadium in 1938.
Only problem was that SIU failed to score a touchdown in any of the four games which means that the initial six-pointer came in a 6-0 win over Arkansas State on Oct. 15, 1938.
Our guess -- and yours is as good as ours -- is that Bill Wolfinbarger, a Carterville product, scored the TD.
SIU's teams in McAndrew's final seasons as head coach (he retired after the 1938 season and turned the head coaching duties over to former standout Glenn "Abe" Martin) weren't exactly offensive powerhouses.
The 1937 team scored only four touchdowns while winning just two of nine games and didn't even match that meager number in '38 when SIU scored just three six-pointers and again won just two of nine games.
Odds that Wolfinbarger is our man are good. He was the only back receiving any kind of all-conference honors that season and there were only six backs included among the lettermen.
It isn't that big of a deal to SIU's current fans, but it is to us and a few other sports trivia types who do consider it to be important. And, believe it, we will have the answer soon.
Far more important is how many games will SIU win at home in its final season. The Salukis have been next to perfect in McAndrew in recent years and could go all the way this season with only Illinois State, Youngstown State and Missouri State scheduled to challenge them.
What a way would it be for SIU to close out its life in McAndrew just as the Salukis did in 1983 when they defeated Nevada-Reno in semi-final action of the NCAA I-AA playoffs to win a berth in the championship game the following week.
And, of course, as all good SIU fans remember well, the Salukis demolished Western Carolina, 43-7, in that game to return home from Charleston, S.C., with the big trophy and title.
The finale could be and probably will be an exciting one and for many reasons.
Coach Dale Lennon has put together another fine, well-balanced team which could win the closer with a 96-yard kickoff return by the elusive Deji Karim, a perfectly thrown pass from Chris Dieker to Joe Allaria, a 40-yard-plus field goal by Kyle Dougherty or the result of Scott Ravanesi pinning the opponent at its one-yard line with another of his 50-yard punts.
For certain, the next three home appearances by the Salukis will be games to remember for many years . . . perhaps even compensating for not knowing who scored the first McAndrew touchdown.