With the comfort of a 21-0 lead quickly erased, the Illinois State football team behind the legs of senior running back Sha-Ron Edwards rallied for a 48-43 victory over SMS Saturday at the Plaster Sports Complex.
With the win the Birds improved to 5-6 overall and 2-4 in the Gateway Football Conference, while SMS fell to 4-6 and 1-5, respectively.
Edwards finished with a career-high 239 yards on 33 carries and a pair of fourth-quarter stops by the Redbird defense keyed the victory.
On the opening drive of the game, the Redbird defense forced SMS to go three-and-out, while the offense only needed seven seconds to take a 7-0 lead when Mike Souza connected with Dwayne Smith on a 50-yard touchdown strike. That was Smiths fifth touchdown on the season.
Junior cornerback Sam Yeargin hauled in his second interception of the season to stall the second SMS drive of the game. It took the Redbirds six plays to go up 14-0 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Edwards with 9:57 remaining in the first quarter.
After another SMS stalled series, the Birds scored on their third straight drive to open the game. Edwards scored his second touchdown of the game, this time from three yards out, to take a 21-0 with 6:25 left in the first quarter.
SMS broke into the scoring column at the 3:35 mark in the first quarter, when A.J. Porter found Steven Rush on a 9-yard pass in the back of the endzone and trailed 21-7.
ISU responded by scoring on its fourth-straight drive when Edwards scored his third of the game on a 4-yard touchdown run. The Redbirds covered 72 yards in nine plays on the drive and took a 28-7 lead with 14:54 left in the second quarter.
Later in the quarter, following a Niall Campbell fumble recovery, freshman running back LaShawn Bullock pushed the Redbird lead to 35-7 with 6:30 left in the half on a 14-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing kick off, Rush sprinted 88-yards down the left sideline for the touchdown and cutting the ISU lead to 35-14.
At the 2:16 mark in the first half, Jon Scifres added a 40-yard field goal for SMS and trailed the Birds 35-17. Following a Souza interception by SMS Anthony Sullivan, Porter found Kaya Farris in the middle of the endzone to reduce the ISU lead to 35-24 on 17 unanswered points that ended the first half of play.
ISU opened the second half with another scoring drive as Bullock added his second touchdown of the game on a 28-yard scamper off tackle at the 11:20 mark in the third quarter to push the advantage back to 42-24.
SMS responded once again when Porter tossed a 74-yard bomb to Rush at the 10:25 mark in the third quarter that reduced the ISU lead to 42-31. Porter and Rush connected again eight minutes later for 75 yards. SMS went for two on the PAT, but failed and closed the Redbird lead to 42-37 with 2:01 left in the third.
At the 13:22 mark in the fourth, Porter found Rush once again for an 80-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point conversion was no good, but the score gave the Bears the lead for the first time in the game at 43-42.
The lead didnt last long as Edwards sprinted 64-yards up the middle for his fourth touchdown of the game putting the Birds back into the lead at 48-43. Edwards fourth touchdown tied the Illinois State record for the most rushing TDs in a Gateway game.
Senior Ray Robinson tied the school record for sacks in a season. Robinson had three on the day and now has 12 on the year tying John Kropkes mark set in 1986.
Souza finished the game passing for 148 yards on 11-for-23 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions. Smith led the Redbird receivers with 108 yards on seven catches.
The Redbirds conclude the season against Indiana State on November 15. Illinois State and the Sycamores will kick off at 1:30 p.m. at Hancock Stadium.
