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| SportsSunday, September 9, 2007 11:09 PM CDT |
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Record kickoff returns fuel ISU victory over Murray State
NORMAL — As the Illinois State football team prepared to receive the second half kickoff Saturday at Hancock Stadium, one question screamed out to be answered. | Photo gallery Where in the name of Devin Hester was Tom Nelson? Despite having returned first-half kickoffs 47 and 59 yards to hand the Redbird offense prime field position, Nelson was not on the field. “I was getting an IV at halftime and didn’t get out in time,” said Nelson. “Jason (Horton) needed one anyway. He did great.” Horton took advantage of the opportunity by bringing back the second-half kickoff 82 yards to the Murray State 12-yard line. The Redbirds turned Horton’s return into a 34-yard Tyler Funk field goal and ISU was on its way to a dominating second half that resulted in a 43-17 victory over Murray State. “We’ve been practicing kickoff returns every day this week, practicing it hard,” Horton said. “The guys up front did a good job blocking, and the return we had was perfect for this game.” The Redbirds finished with 205 yards on four kickoff returns to set a Hancock Stadium school record for yardage. It was the second highest total in ISU history. “Coach (Holmon) Wiggins drew up a good scheme this week. Everyone did their job and I got the result of it,” Nelson said. “Huge holes. It opened up just like we planned.” Horton hears an earful Horton committed a personal foul in the fourth quarter and heard about his indiscretion from head coach Denver Johnson when he was removed from the game. Two plays later, Horton was back on the field and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Luke Drone. “After getting that penalty, Coach Johnson got in my face and told me a couple things I didn’t like,” said Horton. “I went back on the field and just had to make a play to redeem myself and I did.” Racers not pleased Murray State coach Matt Griffin was disappointed with his team’s second-half effort in the Racers’ 11th straight loss. “We have got to find who wants to play because we did not do that in the last 20 minutes,” Griffin said. “We do not need to worry about Lambuth (next week’s opponent) or the Green Bay Packers. We need to focus on who wants to play football.” “He laid into us bad,” said Racers’ wide receiver Rod Harper. “He said we have a game to play for four quarters, and that he will not put up with us quitting. We need to come back ready to play.” Recruits on hand Normal Community High School lineman Billy Dickson and three-star rated linebacker Jayme Comer of Brownsburg, Ind., were among the potential recruits on the Redbird sideline before the game. Also in attendance were Rockton Hononegah quarterback David King and Cudahy, Wis., offensive lineman Mike Seefeld, who has already committed to sign with ISU. Next stop NFL? Drone is mentioned in a Yahoo sports article as one of eight “small school” (non-Football Bowl Subdivision) senior quarterbacks who are considered NFL prospects. The writer calls Drone “a two-sport star who has developed into a high-caliber performer. Lacks ideal size, but is very athletic, throws a good ball and has produced consistent results over the past two years.” Drone was initially a baseball player at ISU before joining the Redbird football team. Extra points -- ISU ran a fake field goal to near perfection in the third quarter as holder Preston Earl appeared to rush for a 7-yard touchdown. The play, however, was called back by a holding penalty. -- Saturday marked the first career start for Redbird redshirt freshman cornerback Kelvyn Hemphill. -- ISU punter Bobby Kelsey averaged 47.5 yards on two boots. -- The ISU student section greeted Murray State entrances to the field with chants of “Murray’s not a state.” -- Redbird captains for the game were Drone, defensive tackle Dan Simnick, linebacker Kye Stewart and injured H-back Dave Mordis. -- Murray State left tackle Cody Morehead had a tough evening with three false start penalties. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. |
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Me wrote on Sep 10, 2007 6:27 PM:
satx wrote on Sep 10, 2007 5:53 PM:
jomo Podkanowicz wrote on Sep 10, 2007 12:30 PM:
any injuries? wrote on Sep 10, 2007 7:14 AM:
Reinhardt wrote on Sep 10, 2007 6:59 AM:
FYI wrote on Sep 9, 2007 11:44 PM:
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