Illinois State senior safety Keondre Jackson (3) hoists the Mid-America Classic traveling trophy following the Redbirds’ win against Eastern Illinois Saturday night in Normal. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
NORMAL – The Mid-America traveling trophy made the journey from the Eastern Illinois side of Hancock Stadium and into the waiting arms of the Illinois State Redbirds Saturday night.
ISU (3-1) took possession following a 31-7 victory over EIU (1-3).
The trophy, which was first introduced in 2011 to commemorate the 100th meeting of the two schools, had resided in Charleston by virtue of a 14-13 EIU win last September.
“It was a really good win. I’m proud of the guys,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said. “We played a well-balanced football game.”
That balance featured an offense that produced 518 yards of total offense and a defense that forced three EIU turnovers.
“We wanted to play complimentary football and hit on all cylinders in every phase. I thought we did that,” Spack said.
Turnovers to touchdowns
Illinois State grabbed a goal-line fumble by EIU quarterback Pierce Holley on the game’s opening drive. The Redbirds also snatched momentum that soon resulted in three straight ISU touchdown drives.
“I saw the quarterback had dropped the snap, so I was looking for it and it just popped out the side,” said ISU’s Darius Walker, who recovered the fumble.
The play ignited the Redbird sideline.
“(Defensive coordinator Travis) Niekamp tells us, ‘They don’t score until they score. Defend every inch.’ That’s one of the things we stand by.”
The Redbird offense then drove 98 yards on 12 plays for the game’s first score, which came via a trick play.
Running back Wenkers Wright took the ball from Tommy Rittenhouse, ran toward the line and then stopped to pitch it back to his quarterback. The EIU defense bit on the fake, allowing receiver Daniel Sobkowicz to break free from coverage for an easy 31-yard touchdown reception.
“It was the perfect time to call it,” Spack said. “We were working on it all week.”
Sobkowicz wasn’t surprised how wide open he was on the play.
“It was a flea-flicker. We got them (EIU defenders) pretty good. We were repping it all week and executed it on game day,” Sobkowicz said.
Illinois State scored 14 points off turnovers in the game. The Redbirds sacked Holley three times, intercepted him twice and held the senior to just 72 yards passing.
“I was just having fun,” said linebacker Patrick Bauer, who collected his first career sack while playing in place of injured starter Amir Abdullah.
Game changers
8:27, 1st quarter: Walker recovered a fumbled EIU snap exchange at the Illinois State 2-yard line after the Panthers had a first-and-goal from the 1.
2:34, 1st quarter: Sobkowicz reeled in a 31-yard touchdown reception from Rittenhouse off a flea-flicker play to cap a 98-yard drive. Ian Wagner’s PAT gave ISU an early 7-0 lead.
9:07, 2nd quarter: Sobkowicz caught his second touchdown pass, this time from five yards out. Wagner’s extra point made it a 21-0 lead.
Best ‘Birds
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the the top three Illinois State players in the game:
Rittenhouse, QB: The Geneva native who prepped at St. Francis High School completed 17-of-22 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran six times for 47 yards.
Wright, RB: The junior rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Wright has run for more than 100 yards in three straight games – all ISU wins.
Bauer, LB: The redshirt freshman from St. Viator High School had five tackles, two for loss, including his first collegiate sack.
What it means
Illinois State has won eight of the last 11 games against Eastern Illinois.
What’s next?
The Redbirds welcome No. 2-ranked North Dakota State to Normal for a 2 p.m. kickoff in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener. It is also ISU’s homecoming.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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