Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State fell to the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis on Senior Day on a chilly afternoon inside Memorial Stadium.
The Sycamores' season comes to an end with an overall record of 1-11, 0-8 MVFC while Southern Illinois improved to 7-5, 5-3 MVFC.
Indiana State scored first in the contest on a short drive set up by a Mark Sewall blocked punt mid-way through the first quarter. Eric Heidorn capitalized on the Sewall block by connecting on a 39-yard field goal at the 6:08 mark of the opening stanza to get ISU out to a 3-0 advantage.
SIU responded with 14 consecutive points on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Ryan West to take a 7-3 lead on the final play of the first quarter and then Ken Malcome had a four-yard scoring rush with 11:25 in the third quarter for a 14-3 Saluki lead.
SIU drove down to the Indiana State seven-yard line on their second possession of the third quarter but Travis Starks picked off a John Lantz offering and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown with 6:11 remaining in the quarter. It was the fourth interception return for a touchdown for hte Sycamores on the season and inched the Sycamores within 14-9 after a failed two-point conversion on a run by Robert Tonyan, Jr.
The Salukis answered Stark's big play with a 13-yard touchdown by Malcolm Agnew with 2:05 left in the third quarter for a 21-9 lead and added a Thomas Kenny 25-yard field goal as well as another Angew touchdown run of four yards for a 31-9 victory.
Buck Logan led the Sycamore offense with 46 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Mark Sewall paced ISU with a career-high 18 total tackles, including seven solo stops and one tackle for a loss. Sewall also was credited with three pass breakups and the blocked punt.
Russell Jones, playing in his final game as a Sycamore, tallied a career-high 14 tackles with three tackles for a loss while Connor Underwood had 11 tackles, including one for a loss. Overall, the Sycamores finished with seven tackles for a loss and two interceptions and 144 return yards with seven pass breakups.
For SIU, Agnew had 25 rushes for 97 yards and two touchdowns while Kory Faulkner came off the bench to hit 11-of-17 passes for 131 yards. John Lantz had eight catches for 99 yards.
