Western tight end Alex Williams (12) celebrates his second-quarter touchdown catch with teammate James Durand (63). It was Williams’ eighth TD reception of the season. (Photo by OVC-Big South)
By Barry Bottino
On a day when Western Illinois was playing with a jumbled offensive line, it was the Leathernecks’ top running back who enjoyed the spoils of their efforts.
Junior Markell Holman, in his first season with WIU, rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown to lift Western to a 29-24 victory at Gardner-Webb and win the OVC-Big South Football Association rushing title.
According to the conference’s website, Holman entered the game trailing Gardner-Webb’s Quasean Holmes by a mere five yards. Holman outrushed Holmes, 137-38, Saturday to become the league’s lone 1,000-yard rusher this season with 1,063.
“It’s very well deserved. Markell is arguably one of the best football players on our team,” WIU coach Joe Davis said. “He can play a lot of positions for us. He keeps his head down and works. He had some big runs throughout the game.”
Davis said injuries along the offensive line led the team to piece together a group of five starters.
“We had a lot of guys in there playing different positions. We had a true freshman that had only played one snap. For those guys to stay together and grind out some yards was really important,” he said.
Western took a 14-10 lead into halftime when tight end Alex Williams caught his eighth touchdown of the season from quarterback Cason Carswell.
In the third quarter, Western (4-8 overall, 3-5 OVC-Big South) extended its lead to 29-10 on 1-yard TD runs by Carswell and Holman, who followed his score with a two-point conversion run.
The second TD was set up when safety Malini Ti’a sacked Gardner-Webb quarterback Cole Pennington, forcing a fumble that was recovered by WIU defensive lineman David Dunston.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs (7-5, 5-3) closed the gap to 29-24 in the fourth quarter before WIU defensive back Esteban Guillory intercepted a deep pass at the 5:26 mark.
The Leathernecks then held on to win when Ti’a tackled wide receiver Chris Lofton at the WIU 5 as the clock expired.
“The two turnovers were absolutely massive,” Davis said. “The last four or five weeks, our defense really took a turn for the positive. Hopefully, we can build on that going into the off-season.”
The Leathernecks finished the season with three wins in the last four games and matched last year’s win total.
Game changers
3:54, 2nd quarter: Williams caught his eighth TD of the season, on a 17-yard throw from Carswell, to give the Leathernecks a lead that they never relinquished.
3:27, 3rd quarter: Holman scored on a 1-yard run then added a two-point conversion run to give WIU a 19-point lead.
5:27, 4th quarter: Guillory hauled in an interception in WIU territory to halt a Gardner-Webb drive late.
Nifty ‘Necks
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Western Illinois players in Saturday’s game:
Holman, RB: In his first year in Macomb, Holman won the OVC-Big South rushing title after his 137-yard performance Saturday.
Christian Pierce, LB: He led all players with 12 total tackles and collected half a sack.
Ti’a, DB: The Western safety had two of the team’s five sacks in the victory.
What it means
After starting the season 1-7, Western finished strong by winning three of its last four games and matching last season’s total of four wins.
What’s next
The Leathernecks will jump into recruiting season, which begins with a signing period from Dec. 3-5.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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