Du Quoin, Harrisburg Labor Weekend Grid Tradition
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[As is usually the case, the high school football teams from Du Quoin and Harrisburg jump from the frying pan of week one directly into the fire of a rugged week two.
The Indians (1-0) and Bulldogs (0-1) tangle Friday night at Taylor Field in Hunzinger Stadium. Kickoff for the Harrisburg home opener is 7 o'clock with the host team smarting from a narrow opening loss to rival Mount Carmel.
Du Quoin-ranked third in Class 3A by The Associated Press-survived a fervent last quarter rally at Bethalto Civic Memoria, escaping town with a 35-28 victory.
Including last year's 43-7 blitzing, Du Quoin hasn't lost to Harrisburg since 2000-dominating each of the past eight meetings-and leads the series 16-7.
"This has become a tradition with Labor Day weekend and all playing Harrisburg," Indians coach Al Martin (22nd year, 215-43; 15-6 vs. Harrisburg) said. "Going down there on the road everytime its going to be a tough game. This will be a another tough one. Harrisburg has some good athletes-they've had a couple of pretty good athletic classes back-to-back. We'll have to really be on top of our game to win."
Against Mt. Carmel, Harrisburg was able to grind out 157 yards rushing. Fullback Dawson Montfort (6'1, 222, sr.) and junior Isaac Behne (5'10, 175) are part of coach Jason Roper's (4th year, 13-17) seven back rotation. Speedy junior John Rollins (5'9, 160) and Noah King (6'1, 191, sr.) return with plenty of experience.
Quarterback Reid Roper (6'0, 197, sr.)-a University of Illinois baseball signee-is also an effective runner. He's an effective passer, connecting with fullback Kollin Dowdy (6'2, 200, sr.) for a long TD pass last week.
Defensively, the Bulldogs' 3-5 alingment relies heavily on a solid linebacking group led by Dowdy. King and Montfort are also back. Stewart Neal (5'9, 266, sr.) and Mitch Mitchell (6'2, 244, sr.) provide plenty of beef up front.
The secondary features returning All-SIRR safety Keelin Rasch (5'10, 181, jr.), Behme and Caleb Thompson (5'10, 164, jr.).
"You hear about a lot of these Harrisburg guys in other sports," Martin said. "In basketball, baseball and track. You know they have some really good speed and that's something we have to be concerned about. We've worked to improve this week . We are getting better and will just keep plugging away."
Du Quoin's oustanding senior threesome-David Rose, Matt Gossett and Jamor Reed-combined for 426 all-purpose yards against BCM.
A fourth senior, halfback David Gaytan, added two more touchdowns and is expected to play Friday after suffering a neck stinger late in the final quarter at Bethalto.
Civic Memorial scored three unanswered touchdowns and rolled up nearly 260 yards offensively in the final 11 minutes against the Indians. A fourth down stand at the 9-yard line with under two minutes remaining saved the game.
"You've just got to keep working at getting better," Martin said of the defense. "And we've gotten better this week. You just keep plugging away and try to improve."