A 35-yard game-winning field goal by Stephen Carroll with 12 seconds left gave the Illinois State football team a 34-31 victory over the SMS Bears on Family Day at Hancock Stadium Saturday.
The Redbirds move to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Gateway Football Conference, while SMS drops to 4-2 and 1-1 in the Gateway.
SMS got on the board first after Steve Watsons blocked punt on Ryan Hoffman led to a 45-yard field goal by Jon Scifres, putting the Bears up 3-0.
Eight seconds into the second quarter Demetrus Johnson scampered 30 yards, breaking several tackles along the way, before finding his way into the end zone for a 7-3 Redbird lead.
Another miscue on special teams led to the Bears first touchdown at 9:28 in the second quarter. Jovon Lewis forced and recovered a fumble at the ISU 28-yard line after Dan Passarelli was unable to handle the punt. The turnover led to an A.J. Porter 28-yard scoring strike to Steven Rush.
After a 3-yard touchdown run by Preston Portee put the Bears up 17-10, the Redbirds tied the game just before halftime on a 2-yard touchdown run by Brian Thompson. But the Bears regained the lead when Rushs 100-yard kick-off return gave SMS a 24-17 halftime lead.
The Bears extended their lead at the beginning of the third quarter with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Porter to Rush, putting SMS up 31-17.
A 2-yard touchdown run by Yance Vaughan cut the SMS lead to 31-24. Illinois State stalled an SMS drive midway through the fourth quarter when Niall Campbell recovered a Cody Pratt fumble on the ISU 2-yard line. That turnover led to a 15-play, 99-yard scoring drive that resulted in a 9-yard touchdown catch by Laurnt Robinson, tying the game at 31 apiece.
The Redbirds will be on the road next weekend on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. as they take on Western Illinois in Macomb.
Game Notes
Stephen Carroll moved up to the third spot in ISU Career Points Scored with 245. Todd Kurz leads with 266 points and Paul Politi is in second with 251.
Brian Thompsons second quarter touchdown run was the first of his Redbird career.
Steven Rushs 100-yard kick-off return in the second quarter tied a Hancock Stadium record set by Aveion Cason in 1999 and Marquis Mosely in 1997.
Demetrus Johnson went over 100-yards rushing for the fourth time this season and the sixth time in his career.
Laurnt Robinson has caught a touchdown pass in every game this season.
