Spring Break
Football: Second quarter swings momentum to Illini
Scott Richey/Sports Editor
Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: Sports
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Eastern red-shirt sophomore punter Kevin Cook booted a low kick 43 yards where it bounced along the ground and off injured Illinois sophomore cornerback Miami Thomas. Eastern red-shirt senior wide receiver Quinten Ponius recovered the muffed punt, and the Panthers were in scoring position at the Illinois 15-yard line.
Red-shirt senior running back Travorus Bess rushed for eight yards on first down, but the combination of freshman running back Desmin Ward and red-shirt senior fullback Chip Keys were unable to pick up a first down on three straight running plays including a fourth and one try by Keys.
The Fighting Illini got the ball on the turnover on downs and marched 93 yards downfield to take a 19-7 lead en route to their 47-21 victory against the Panthers.
"It's a power off-tackle play," Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said about Keys' failed fourth-and-one rush. "It should be one of our best plays. It was one of our biggest backs. I understand we missed a block right off the edge. Somebody knifed in there and made a play."
Spoo said he thought the final minutes of the second quarter - and the failed fourth down attempt - were the turning point of the entire game. Eastern trailed just 13-7 after two Illinois field goals, but the Fighting Illini scored twice before halftime.
"You've got two downs to make a yard and you can't do it, boy that's a killer," Spoo said. "Mentally and everything else. It was close there until the end of that second quarter. If we had taken advantage of it we go up 14-13. Who knows what happens after that?"
Eastern red-shirt junior quarterback Bodie Reeder said the Panthers needed to finish drives against the Fighting Illini. He agreed with Spoo that the failed fourth down attempt could have changed the outcome of the game.
"We've got to smell the end zone and finish those drives," Reeder said. "We have to be able to score points off turnovers. That's the key to victory. Maybe that's a different game if we go in up 14-13 at halftime."
But instead of heading to the locker room at halftime with a one-point lead, the Panthers trailed the Fighting Illini 26-7 after consecutive Illinois touchdowns. The majority of the late, second-quarter scoring came from Illinois junior quarterback Juice Williams.
Williams scored both of Illinois' touchdowns in the second quarter and had 174 rushing yards on 16 carries - an Illinois record for quarterbacks.
The majority of Williams' ground gains came on designed quarterback keepers and when the pocket dissolved around him and Eastern's defense was closing in. Instead of being sacked, Williams pulled the ball down and ran.
"Some of his big runs were scrambling," said Illinois head coach Ron Zook. "We're not going to tell him not to run."
The Fighting Illini also got two rushing touchdowns from sophomore wide receiver Arrelious Benn on option plays out of their spread formation. Benn had more yards on the ground (48) than had through the air (36).
"It spreads the defense out and gives them one more thing to think about," Williams said about the option plays. 'It obviously helps open up holes for the running backs and when you establish the run, we can throw the ball over their heads."
Eastern red-shirt senior defensive end Pierre Walters said Illinois' option offense was difficult to defend against because the Panthers could not easily prepare for it during practice. He said Illinois runs its offense at an extremely high tempo.
"It goes about three times faster in the game," Walters said. "(Williams) was holding the ball for a really long time which made it real difficult to see if he was going to give the ball or keep it and run with it. They do it to perfection."
Scott Richey can be reached at 581-7944 or at srrichey@eiu.edu.
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