CARBONDALE, Ill. ? After playing two straight home games at Memorial Stadium, Indiana State returned to the road on Saturday to face off against #15 ranked Southern Illinois. The Salukis (3-2, 2-1 MVFC) scored on their first play from scrimmage and never looked back as they defeated the Sycamores (0-6, 0-2 MVFC) on Homecoming at McAndrew Stadium.
Indiana State kicked off to the Salukis to begin the game, however the squib kick by Braulio Martinez dribbled out of bounds to give SIU the ball at the 40 yard line. From there, the Salukis did not waste any time as quarterback Chris Dieker hooked up with wide receiver Damian Sherman on a 60-yard touchdown reception on the first play from scrimmage to put SIU up 7-0 just seven seconds into the game.
Following and Indiana State four-and-out on its first possession of the game, Southern Illinois drove deep into ISU territory before freshman Alex Sewall knocked the ball loose from SIU running back Larry Warner and Larry Carter recovered the fumble at the team's 19 yard line to give the Sycamores the ball back to end the scoring threat.
Southern Illinois got back on the scoreboard on a Warner 10-yard touchdown run that capped off a nine-play, 81-yard drive with 3:16 left in the first quarter to extend the lead to 14-0 over the Sycamores. The score would stay that way until early in the second quarter, when the Salukis pulled a trick play out of the playbook to score their third touchdown of the game. Dieker threw a swing pass to wide receiver Matt Guinn who then proceeded to throw back across the field to hook up with Dieker for a 36-yard touchdown to bring the score to 21-0 with 14:26 left in the half.
On the ensuing drive for the Sycamores, punter Gabe Mullane had his punt attempt blocked by SIU's Lance Caldwell who then picked up the ball and ran it back three yards for a quick touchdown to make the score 28-0 with 12:42 left.
The two teams then traded possessions before the Salukis scored on a costly ISU turnover. Quarterback Matt Seliger was sacked deep in ISU territory by James Cloud and fumbled, which allowed linebacker Kyle Walker to scoop the ball up and run eight yards for the touchdown. On the point after attempt, holder Scott Ravanesi bobbled the snap, kicker Kyle Dougherty recovered and then proceeded to throw the ball into the endzone to find Jason Seaman for the two-point conversion to make the score 36-0 with 6:29 remaining in the half.
SIU got the ball back and worked with a short field after a punt from Mullane that went off the side of his foot. The Salukis needed two plays to find the endzone as running back Lucien Walker walked in from a yard out to extend the lead to 43-0 with 3:52 left to play until halftime. The Salukis then recovered a fumble on ISU's first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive to get the ball back at the 14 yard line. From there, Richard White rumbled 14 yards on the first play of the drive to widen the score to 50-0 with 3:40 remaining, which is where it stayed as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
As the teams started the second half, ISU forced a Saluki punt however kick returner Koby Kraemer bobbled the fair catch attempt and SIU's Travis Bloomfield recovered to give the Salukis the ball at the ISU nine yard line. From there, the Sycamore defense stiffened and forced a 25-yard field goal by Dougherty that brought the score to 53-0 with 7:07 remaining in the third quarter.
Following the defensive stop, the Sycamores put together an impressive drive to score their first points of the game. Quarterback Calvin Schmidtke capped off a 10-play, 72-yard drive that took 5:25 off the clock by connecting with senior wide receiver Ryan Patrick on a 48-yard touchdown pass to make the score 53-7 with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter.
The touchdown pass was the first of Schmidtke's career at ISU and the second TD reception of the season for Patrick. The play was also the longest from scrimmage for ISU through six games played and marked the team's first road touchdown of the season.
The score stayed that way until the fourth quarter, when SIU's Jonate Govan scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to put the Salukis up 60-7 after the Dougherty extra point with 9:12 remaining in the game. The score stayed that way for the rest of the quarter and the Salukis came away with the victory, their third of the season and second in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Schmidtke finished the game with 160 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-24 passing, with that touchdown being hauled in by Patrick who led the way with seven catches for 92 yards. Sewall led the way on defense with seven total tackles, all solos, and forced two fumbles while Donye McCleskey added six tackles on the afternoon.
Indiana State returns to action next weekend, when they travel to Macomb, Ill., to face off against the #17 ranked Western Illinois Leathernecks. Kick off is set for 5 p.m. ET at Hanson Field.
