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Sunday, November 29, 2009 9:56 PM CST
Panthers end season with 48-7 loss to Southern Illinois
By BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
CARBONDALE — Who knows maybe Eastern Illinois still had a chance before the Mattoon guy got in the way.
Eastern was trailing by 17 point but was driving and multi-talented Lorence Ricks, who had pulled surprisingly big plays earlier this season and even earlier in this game, got another chance on a fourth-and-8 from the Southern Illinois 41.
The Panthers were lined up to punt but Southern Illinois’ Mattoon product Connor James had things figured.
“On the fake I stayed pretty sound,” James said. “They had a different guy in the backfield so I stayed in the two-point.”
James made the tackle after Ricks had gone just 2 yards on the fake punt, Eastern’s possession had ended after two first downs and the Panthers were on the downward spiral to Saturday’s 48-7 season-ending loss to the Salukis in the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
“It was definitely a momentum changing play,” James said. “That’s why special teams are special.”
Little was special on this day for Eastern whose fate may have actually been sealed before James’ tackle 2:29 before halftime.
“We never gave ourselves a chance,” EIU offensive coordinator Roy Wittke said. “We were off to a good start. We got a turnover and got a score. The botched snap just deflated us. After that it was just one mistake after another.”
This after such an encouraging beginning with linebacker Cory Leman forcing a fumble by Southern’s star running back Deji Karim and tackle Trevor Frericks recovering on the Salukis’ 30-yard line.
On a fourth-and-1 from the SIU 11, the wide receiver Ricks took a reverse handoff and ran for a touchdown putting Eastern ahead three minutes, 18 seconds into the game.
Ricks had also been the special teams star in Eastern’s biggest win of the season stunning Jacksonville State on Oct. 24 and now the Panthers might have been seeing the start of an even bigger upset.
Then came a fumbled center-quarterback exchange, this one with Jake Christensen at quarterback before one in the second half with Bodie Reeder.
“One of them was a communication thing,” EIU’s All-Ohio Valley Conference center Chaz Millard said. “I just didn’t hear the signal. On the other one, things just happen in football.”
Lots of things happened in this game in which Eastern totaled four lost fumbles and an interception.
The interception ended Christensen’s season after the first series of the second half.
“Jake wasn’t right with his elbow,” EIU offensive coordinator Roy Wittke said. “He tried to come back but he wasn’t himself. Being the competitor, he wanted to go but he just wasn’t himself.”
Christensen was just 1-for-8 passing for 13 yards.
He walked off the field in pain in the second quarter being hit causing a fumble that Southern defensive end Kyle Russo returned 28 yards for a touchdown making it 24-17 with 6:04 left in the first half.
“You can’t give them opportunities like that,” EIU coach Bob Spoo said. “Turnovers, that’s the difference. They smoked us good.”
Led by Mon Williams’ 107 yards on 20 carries, the Panthers maybe on their best day could not have handled the Sports Network’s top-ranked FCS Salukis, who got 159 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries by Karim and 115 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushes by quarterback Paul McIntosh, who also completed 13 of 17 passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they were in the championship game,” Spoo said.
Southern, 11-1, is two steps away from that now advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinal against William & Mary.
Eastern finished 8-4 bouncing back from a 5-7 season but losing in the first round of the playoffs for the ninth straight time since a win at Idaho in 1989.
“It was a good experience,” said Millard, playing for playoff teams in three of his four seasons. “It’s tough to walk away. It hit me but it hasn’t hit me yet.”
Wittke said: “The bottom line is we made mistakes. There’s really not much more you can say. It certainly wasn’t our best effort and in an environment like this we needed our best effort. It’s a shame it has to end this way because we are better than this.”
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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