Southern Illinoisan from Carbondale, Illinois • Page 20

4B Spouts The Southern Illinoisan Sunday, November 3, 2002 Prep Football Playoffs if to 9 Trea stems imft Mm on in BY ROBERT BURNS FOR THE SOUTHERN SPRINGFIELD Mount Vernon coach Dan Mings suspected that speedy, athletic Springfield Southeast would come up with a big play or two, just not one that was nowhere in the Spartan playbook. Up just 19-14 with just 5:11 left in the game, Southeast stunned the Rams when Aerisin Macon scooped up a It was Southeast's first-ever playoff win, giving the Spartans a second-round date with Bloomington. Meanwhile, the Rams (7-3) were making their first postseason appearance since 1992. Southeast's finesse fit the occasion in the fourth quarter after Drew Millwood caught a touchdown pass from five yards out, capping a 16-play, 78-yard drive to get to 19-14. Southeast had a first-and-10 teammates' fumble and dashed 45 yards for the clinching touchdown in a 26-21 victory Saturday in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

So to say the ball didn't bounce Mount Vernon's way Saturday is no cliched excuse. "There was a freak fumble on the sidelines, and that's what it was, the kid picks it up and makes a great athletic play," Mings said. "If you can tell me which way that ball is going to bounce, we could play the lottery." line, which sacked Nate Haasis six times. The Rams' pounding ground game was spearheaded by fullback Adam Barbian's 58 yards on 13 attempts. "We knew they would get one big play on us, we knew that, with speed like that, it's going to happen," Mings said.

"But there's nothing to second guess, we came up here and did everything that we wanted to do." on the following possession when Martin hit Anthony Lash from 10 yards out to make it 26-21. Southeast punted on a fourth-and-7, giving the Rams a legitimate shot at victory, as they begun the final drive on their 32 with 2:15 remaining. But Mount Vernon got no closer than the Southeast 46 with 2:03 left. Southeast's passing attack was grounded by the play of Mount Vernon's defensive on their own 35. Willie Logan came around left end and headed down the sideline in front of the Southeast bench around midfield.

Logan lost the ball on a hit from a Mount Vernon defender, the ball popping into the air and into the hands of Macon, who went 45 yards for the touchdown, putting the home team up 26-14 with 4:56 remaining. Mount Vernon began its shot at a complete comeback 1 Drone leads Aces in rout of Johnston City rt I Nv kU I if 1 I III y- rCK I I -V -TT BY JUSTIN WALKER THE SOUTHERN MOUNT CARMEL There was a feeling on the Johnston City sideline, if only for about 10 minutes, that an upset was in the making. Mount Carmel's Luke Drone quickly changed that with an offensive flurry that propelled the unbeaten Golden Aces past the Indians, 40-6, in a first-round Class 4A playoff matchup Saturday at Legends Field better known as the Snake Pit. Johnston City (6-4) held its own in the opening frame. After a stalled opening drive, the Indians' defense forced a Mount Carmel punt but fumbled the ball back to the Aces (10-0).

Marcus Francescon returned the momentum to Johnston City by intercepting a Drone pass. "We gave them a run at the beginning," said Indians' fullback Josh Comer, who passed the season rushing mark in the fourth quarter. "We were playing just as hard as they were and they didn't expect that from us." Johnston City went four-and-out after the interception and Drone's 36-yard touchdown strike to Michael Brewer with 37 seconds left in the first quarter provided a standing eight-count. The knockout punches came swiftly after that. Drone sandwiched touchdown passes around a Tyler Buss 5-yard scoring run it took the Aces just 10 plays to score three times and Mount Carmel led 26-0 at the half.

"Offensively, we were pretty good today," said Mount Carmel coach Darren Peach. "We sputtered around a little Du Quoin running back Derek Beard eludes would-be Chester tacklers Dr1i7 Winnm shuts down Chester despite sloppy play arM during the first half at Du Quoin on 54-yard pass that looked to be a touchdown. Spiller, who is nursing a pulled groin, was pulled down from behind at thel. "With (Spiller) hurt, we didn't really get to pass like we normally do," said Du Quoin quarterback Nick Hill. "I think we got a little bit conservative." Hill scored from the 1 to give the Indians a 7-0 lead.

Another Du Quoin drive was halted when Chase Porter recovered a fumble at the Chester 27 with 4:43 late in the first half. Again, the Yellow Jackets failed to capitalize on Du Quoin's mistake. The Indians threatened again with two minutes later, but Hill was sacked at the Chester 35. "Our defense really kept us in the game," Hill said. "Coach was very disappointed at halftime," Spiller said.

"We usually don't make that many mistakes." The Indians finally us 1 MICHAEL DANN THE SOUTHERN Saturday. MICHAEL DANN THE SOUTHERN extended their lead when Cole Endres reached the end zone on a 1-yard run with 5:33 left in the third quarter. "We tried to come out in the second half and pound the ball at them," Martin said. Du Quoin put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter when Hill shot into the end zone on a bootleg around right end from the 8. Hill's touchdown gave the Indians a 21-0 lead with just over eight minutes to play, eliminating any Chester comeback hopes.

The game was a completely different story from the regular season meeting between the two SIRR Mississippi Division foes, which Du Quoin dominated from start to finish in a 42-12 rout. Still, the ending the was the same a Du Quoin victory. "They made some mistakes that you normally don't see a Du Quoin team make," said Chester coach Dennis Roth. "But, we were not able to capitalize on them." bit in the first quarter but then we got it rolling." Drone tacked on the exclamation point in the third quarter. With the Aces pushed back into a second-and-27 hole, Drone took a shotgun snap and faked a handoff before bursting through the line.

He broke a pair of open-field tackles and wound up in the end zone with a 56-yard touchdown that put his team up, 40-0. Drone ran for 125 yards on nine carries and completed four passes for 110 more yards. "He's an all-state quarterback for a reason," said Johnston City coach Mike Rude. "I think he showed it." Comer racked up 83 yards on 17 carries in his final game and set up Jared Cummings' 5-yard score that put the Indians on the scoreboard with 4:28 left. "We got beat by the No.

1-ranked team in the state," Comer said. "We came in thinking we could give them a run." All things considered, it was a fine season for Johnston City, which was just happy to be in the playoffs in what was billed as a rebuilding year. "I thought they'd come in here in awe and maybe back away a little bit," Rude said. "I was proud of them today, I really was. We played a lot harder than I thought we would.

"They fought like a group of kids that were getting walked off the gangplank." Mount Carmel welcomes Herrin to the Snake Pit next weekend in the second round. jaywalkrmidwest.net 618-529-5454 X15086 possession, Joe Kretz was intercepted by Morgan Ferris at the MarshaU 39. The interception set up a 9-yard Eitel to Ethan Claypool scoring pass five plays later, giving the Lions a 20-7 advantage. Marshall scored 22 points in the third quarter before C-Z-R got an 18-yard scoring pass from Joe Kretz to Todd Myers to make it 42-15. A 9-yard run by Claypool with 5:39 left wrapped up the scoring.

Marshall outgained C-Z-R, 486-210. Claypool accounted for 201 of those yards on 20 carries. Eitel accounted for another 228 yards through the air, completing 14-of-19 passes to four different receivers. "I'm fortunate right now," Marshall coach Troy Johnson said. "I've got a lot of depth at the skill positions, a quarterback that can throw the ball and receivers that can catch it.

"We've got so many weapons that on the sideline I almost spin at times trying to find and get to the right weapon. It's very difficult to defend." Burnett finished with 115 yards on the ground for C-Z-R. He had 43 yards in the first half. Joe Kretz finished 5-for-19 for 64 yards. The Bearcats had just four first downs in the first half and 11 overall two came via penalty.

"We did just what you don't want to happen," John Kretz said. "They moved the ball and we couldn't get it from them, and when we did get it we were three-and-out or maybe one first down and out. "You've got to get some first downs and get some rhythm. Defensively, you've got to get a stop every now and then. We just didn't do it." intu Au.ymmi jiii.i niiiiiii.n i.im iuilm mm.

miim.h. u. fE Y'n) N-- ttJ A. cv Lions roar past Bearcats with 42 unanswered points Du Quoin senior Robbie Tilley pushes off Chester's Lucas Nanney. Du Quoin BY SCOTT MEES THE SOUTHERN DU QUOIN Penalties, fumbles, interceptions and a high snap.

If it had to do with sloppy football, then it happened in Du Quoin's 21-0 Class 3A playoff win over Chester Saturday. Nevertheless, Du Quoin (9-1) travels to Marshall for a second round matchup next week. "We felt like we made some early mistakes that prevented a touchdown," said Du Quoin coach Al Martin. The first of those mistakes gave Chester an early opportunity to score. The Indians snapped the ball over quarterback Nick Hill's head early in first quarter and Chester's Lucas Nanney recovered the ball on the Du Quoin 32.

But the Yellow Jackets (7-3) could not put the ball in the end zone and had to settle for a 37-yard field goal attempt. Curt Owen's kick fell short. The Indians also missed an early opportunity. On fourth-and-3 from the Yellow Jacket 27, Hill's pass toward the end zone was y. Chester's Curt Owen is sandwiched Darrell Anders.

BY STEVE WEBB THE SOUTHERN MARSHALL If a high school football game were just 12 minutes long then Christopher-Zeigler-Royalton would be in the second round of the Class 3 A playoffs. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, games are 48 minutes. The Bearcats held a 7-0 lead after one quarter Saturday before Marshall's high-powered offense kicked into gear and posted 42 straight points in a 49-15 victory. The Lions (10-0) wttl host Du Quoin in the second round. C-Z-R ends its season at 6-4.

One turnover on downs and an interception led to 14 of Marshall's 20 second-quarter points. "I made the statement earlier that I thought we'd handled adversity a little better here late in the year," C-Z-R coach John Kretz said. "I just felt like we didn't handle it here and let them get on a little roll." The roll began after C-Z-R grabbed a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 1-yard plunge by Nathan Burnett. Marshall tied the game at the 11:25 mark of the second quarter. On the ensuing C-Z-R possession, the Bearcats faced fourth-and-inches on their own 34.

Kretz decided to go for it. Burnett was hit behind the line and took a 3-yard loss, which gave the ball to Marshall. Derek Eitel scored on a 3-yard run six plays later, putting the Lions on top to stay. On the next C-Z-R 4 batted down by Chester's Austin Kerkhover with 2:52 left in the first quarter. The Indians recovered at the start of the second quarter.

Du Quoin wide receiver Terrence Spiller broke free and caught a MICHAEL DANN THE SOUTHERN by Du Quoin's Cole Endres and 2.