FOOTBALL: Indians go down to unbeaten CSE in Quarterfinals
Du Quoin's 2012 varsity football season and nine-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday as Camp Point Central-Southeastern ran on the Indians for 320 yards in a 35-28 Class 2A State Quarterfinal victory for the Panthers at Van Metre Field.
Both teams scored in every quarter of the highly-contested matchup, but the Indians' final drive came up just short allowing Central-Southeastern to escape with a win despite only two passing attempts.
"We knew coming in they were pretty good up front," said Du Quoin head coach Al Martin, "They did a great job (with their run blocking)."
CSE coach Brad Dixon said it's what his team has been doing all season long on their way to a perfect 12-0 mark.
"Everyone knows we're going to run the football," said Dixon. "We threw the ball twice tonight, we threw it five times last week, three the week before. We feel that our guys up front are good enough that we can run behind them. The defense knows it's coming, and we just executed again today. It's difficult to stop when we have three running backs that at any opportunity have a chance to get a first down."
The Panthers' Dalton Heubner took the opening kickoff back 88 yards for a 7-0 lead, but Du Quoin's offense looked unfazed by the quick deficit, using a big play of their own - Shayne Baxter's 62-yard touchdown run - to tie the game less than a minute later.
Central-Southeastern got right to work when the offense got the ball. The Panthers ran 8 plays - all runs - and went 67 yards to get the lead back on quarterback Seth Leezer's one-yard keeper up the gut with 5:32 left in the opening quarter.
The Panthers then recovered an onside kick and had a chance to grab a two-score lead, but Du Quoin's defense was able to force a three-and-out to keep things close for the time being.
The Indians' offense coughed up a fumble, however, and CSE took over at Du Quoin's 40-yard line and drove down inside the 10 before a field goal attempt sailed wide left with 8:26 to go in the half.
The Panthers would put points on the board before the break after taking over on their own 9-yard line following an Indian punt. Douglas Weese broke free for a 42-yard TD turn to cap off an 8-play drive aided by a personal foul flag on Du Quoin. CSE led 21-7 with 1:46 remaining in the second quarter.
One of many short CSE kickoffs followed and the Indians had only 54 yards to go for paydirt. Brenden Fred completed passes to Jonah Spencer, Daulton Donoghue and John Erwin to set up his own 4-yard touchdown run with just 10 seconds on the clock to make it 21-14 CSE at halftime.
Du Quoin got the ball to start the second half on their own 36, but went for it on fourth-and-two from the 44 with a handoff to Camden Youngman who was stuffed for a turnover on downs.
"That was something as a coach you'd probably like to have back," said Martin. "We just thought that we needed a little momentum. I got a little impatient."
The Panthers turned it into points with 10 running plays for a 43-yard scoring drive and a 28-14 advantage.
"The last couple games we've had the ball coming out of halftime and done that against other teams," Dixon said, "so when they had the football we knew they were going to come out and try to tie the game at that point. We got a stop and then we went down and scored."
Central-Southeastern's kickoff went out of bounds at their own 44 to allow Du Quoin to jump right back in it. Fred found Spencer for a 37-yard completion that led to another keeper TD for the Indians' quarterback with 4:13 left in the third quarter.
Du Quoin just couldn't seem to stop CSE's three-headed attack out of the backfield. Huebner (16 carries, 106 yards), Weese (23-151) and Bobby Keltz (20-63) again led the Panthers down the field, chewing up game clock on a 13-play drive that ended with the eventual deciding touchdown, a 1-yard run by Leezer with 9:40 to play in the game to give CSE a 35-21 lead.
Du Quoin added a 46-yard touchdown pass from Fred to Travis Chapman with 3:12 to go to cut into the lead, then forced a punt to get the ball back with 1:32 left and a chance to keep their season alive.
"(Fred) was better than I gave him credit for, he did a great job tonight," said Dixon. "We wanted to stop their run, and outside of maybe one big play we were able to do that, but he did a great job with his feet and in the air."
Fred kept the drive moving with a couple nice runs and a pair of completions to John Erwin, but couldn't connect with his intended receiver on a fourth-and-five at the CSE 10 with time ticking down.
"That's about all you can ask when you're in a game like this, to get down and then you fight back and have a chance at the end," said Martin. "Last week's game went down to the last play, and then this week's game went down to the last play. The kids never quit. We got beat by a good ball club, a very good ball club."
Baxter's 86 rushing yards on 11 carries led the ground game for DHS. Fred (11-47) and Youngman (6-18) also contributed to the Indians' total of 156 yards rushing.
Fred connected on 10-of-18 passes for 180 yards. Leading Indian receivers were Spencer (3-85), Erwin (3-32) and Chapman (2-48).
"They've had a great year and we've very appreciative of their efforts," Martin said of his graduating seniors. "They've worked very hard throughout the year and given us great leadership. I can't say enough about them because they're an awful good group of kids."
Camp Point Central-Southeastern moves on to the 2A Semifinals where they will travel to Belleville to meet Althoff Catholic. Du Quoin finishes 9-3 after starting the 2012 season with back-to-back losses.