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| SportsThursday, October 11, 2007 2:13 PM CDT |
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Gateway notes: SIU-Northern Iowa a perfect matchup
With early schedules typically featuring a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, Gateway Conference teams seldom make it this far into the season without a loss. Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa have survived into October undefeated, but only one will remain so after Saturday. The No. 2-ranked Panthers (5-0, 1-0 in the Gateway) and the seventh-ranked Salukis (6-0, 2-0) meet at the sold-out UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in an unprecedented conference showdown. “It’s certainly a game that is exciting to be a part of,” Southern coach Jerry Kill said of the first time two undefeated Gateway teams have met this late in the season in the 23-year history of the league. “We’ve developed a rivalry against each other. It’s a great game, great for our conference.” The Salukis own a victory over FBS entry Northern Illinois, while Northern Iowa dispatched Iowa State of the Big 12 Conference. “Southern and Northern Iowa normally do put on a good game. It’s two good teams playing good football,” Panthers’ coach Mark Farley said. “Southern is an excellent team. They know what they do and they do it well. Their execution is very good.” The Gateway’s top two quarterbacks in passing efficiency will be in action in Southern’s Nick Hill and UNI’s Eric Sanders. Hill has passed for 1,225 yards, 14 touchdowns and just one interception. Sanders is completing 76.5 percent of his passes for 1,138 yards. Sanders suffered a shoulder injury in a Sept. 29 win at Illinois State. The Panthers were idle last week after their fourth straight road game. “I would expect Eric to play,” Farley said. University High School graduate Alan Turner leads the Salukis with 16 receptions for 228 yards. Bloomington’s Ryan Kernes adds nine catches for 82 yards. “There will be a rush of momentum two or three times in their favor. We have to handle that and get them out of it,” Kill said. “We want to have fun and let it all hang out. We feel like we’re playing the best team in the country.” Donaldson rushes to top Western Illinois junior Herb Donaldson has taken over the Gateway rushing lead with 719 yards. “Herb has been durable. He’s taken a lot of hits,” said Leathernecks’ coach Don Patterson. “He’s a mentally tough young man.” Donaldson rushed for 1,417 yards in 2006. Around the Gateway ISU’s Kye Stewart leads the Gateway in tackles at 12.0 per game. In second is Redbird teammate Bill Hronec at 9.8. Youngstown State plays host to Southern Utah Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. The Penguins have not lost a nonconference home game since 2004. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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