Saturday, September 29, 2007 1:13 AM CDT
Wave finally conquers history
Mattoon posts first win over Bloomington since '75
BY BRIAN NIELSEN Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
MATTOON - Players knew the history.
“Thirty years,” Mattoon offensive guard and linebacker Clint Voyles said. “To tell you the truth, we didn’t talk much about it.”
Afterward, Gerald Temples, who has only been coaching 11 Green Wave football seasons, had plenty to say after his team beat Bloomington 26-14 in Friday’s Big 12 Conference win at Gaines Field marking the first time since 1975 Mattoon has beaten a Purple Raiders football team.
“We’ve had some great wins and great kids but it ranks right up there,” Temples said.
“I’m so happy for the kids. I’m so proud of them. We faced adversity. They did everything they could to raise the bar.”
Oh by the way, the Wave, No. 7 in this week’s Associated Press Class 5A state rankings, also became IHSA playoff eligible at 5-1 overall and in the Big 12 with three more regular season chances left to make the postseason a sure thing.
Bloomington, shorthanded by injuries and disciplinary suspensions, is in a rare 3-3 predicament “This is a character check in life,” Raiders coach Rigo Schmelzer said. “This is a character check.”
Mattoon had several of those as Bloomington tried to rally from a 13-0 halftime deficit, getting within
13-7 in the third quarter and then 19-14 with 8:10 remaining.
The Wave answered with a 15-play, 72-yard, 8:13-time consuming touchdown drive that carried its only third-quarter possession into the fourth quarter and then an eight-play, 78-yard drive to cap things.
Kyle Drummond finished both possessions with touchdown runs of 2 and 38 yards as the senior running back/linebacker made his return after three games out with a shoulder injury a good one.
Drummond got 66 of his 86 rushing yards in the secoond half while Marshall Creed had 78 yards and a touchdown in the first half of his 95-yard night.
“Our running backs did a good job running the ball, the line did a great job and (fullback) Jay Hartbank did a lot better job,” Temples said. “Jeremy (Jordan, the quarterback) was on target. For us to win football games we have to have that. It was a total team effort. The kids ung together and hung together and finished it. The line did a great job on those drives.”
“We just did what we had to do,” Voyles said of line blocking that was so critical to the Wave’s second-half ball possession.
The game’s start was no indication this would be any kind of a special night for Mattoon.
Mattoon’s first possession consisted of a run for no gain, a hurried pass that missed an open receiver and a dropped pass on what would have been a first down.
Then Bloomington’s offense clicked for three first downs including Levi Johnson’s 19-yard pass completion to Will Bishop getting the Raiders on the Mattoon 7-yard line.
But after Mattoon coach Gerald Temples called a timeout, two plays netted Bloomington 1 yard and then Mattoon cornerback Jared Dosien broke up a third-down pass in the end zone.
When Adem Peden’s 23-yard field goal attempt went wide left, the Green Wave had dodged Bloomington’s first bullet.
“We just started reacting quicker,” Voyles said.
Schmelzer said: “I’m disappointed with the missed field goal and I’m disappointed in the missed execution on offense.”
The Wave used that momentum.
Marshall Creed’s 42-yard run down the left sideline got Mattoon to Bloomington’s 34-yard line, quarterback Jeremy Jordan’s 14-yard run provided another first down and on second-and-8 from the 11, Jordan lofted a pass that Scott Navel grabbed in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown with 2:26 left in the first quarter.
Stephen Eades’ extra-point kick made it 7-0.
Wave fans did not have long to rest their voice boxes.
Two plays later Mattoon linebacker Jay Hartbank dove on Bloomington’s errant pitch that not only lost 18 yards but gave the Wave the ball on the Raiders’ 8-yard line.
On third and goal Creed dodged one tackler and reached the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown three seconds before the end of the first quarter.
Even with a botched snap on the extra-point try, Mattoon had the 13-0 lead.
Even when the Wave failed to capitalize on Creed’s interception giving the Wave the ball on the Bloomington 45, Mattoon continued its first half shutout.
Led by Creed’s 78 yards on 11 rushes, the Wave had a
135-123 edge in offensive yards at halftime.
Mattoon was first celebrating a fumble recovery on the opening kickoff of the second half but the Bloomington kick returner was ruled down.
Bloomington capitalized with a 60-yard touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard run by fullback Marquis Williams, who sat out the first half on a suspension.
In the fourth quarter Darrelynn Dunn, who missed Bloomington’s previous two games with a broken thumb and had been just playing defense Friday while wearing a cast, returned to his running back position and had a 44-yard run in a drive that he finished with a 5-yard scoring run.
But Mattoon answered a gain and when Drummond got loose up the middle for his 38-yard touchdown with
4:31 remaining, nothing could stop the Wave’s party.
“I don’t have words for how good this feels,” Voyles said.
Mattoon’s last regular season road game of the season is 7 p.m. Friday at Champaign Central.
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
Bloomington 0 0 7 7 - 14
Mattoon 13 0 0 13 - 26
First quarter
M - Scott Navel 11 pass from Jeremy Jordan (Stephen Eades kick), 2:25
M - Marshall Creed 3 run (pass failed), :03
Third quarter
B - Marquis Williams 1 run (Adam Peden kick), 6:04
Fourth quarter
M - Kyle Drummond 2 run (kick failed), 10:48
B - Darrelynn Dunn 5 run (Peden kick), 8:10
M - Drummond 38 run (Eades kick), 4:21
TEAM STATISTICS
Blo Mat
First downs 13 16
by running 11 8
by passing 2 5
by penalty 0 3
Rushes-yards 39-267 33-211
Passes attempted 20 12
Passes completed 8 6
Had intercepted 1 0
Yards passing 118 72
Total offense 385 283
Punts-avg. 1-34.0 3-29.7
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 8-77 3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
B - Levi Johnson 22-126; Darrelyn Dunn 4-67, 1 TD; Terry Bausley 9-55; Marquis Wilson 4-19
M - Marshall Creed 17-95, 1 TD; Kyle Drummond 16-86, 2 TDs; Jeremy Jordan 2-17; Jay Hartbank 2-14; team
1-(-1)
Passing
B - Johnson 8-16-1-118
M - Jordan 6-12-0-72
Receiving
B - Dushon Morris 5-82; Eric Furler 2-17; Will Bishop
1-19
M - Scott Navel 4-46, 1 TD; Jay Hartbank 1-16; Coleman Covington 1-10
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Collatine wrote on Sep 29, 2007 5:09 PM: