Oct. 29, 2005
Final Stats
Normal, Ill. -
Luke Drone hit Pierre Jackson with a pair of second-half touchdown passes for Illinois State, but it wasn't enough to catch-up with a Western Illinois team that took an 21-3 lead at halftime and held on for a 31-17 win in a Gateway Conference football game Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
The Redbirds, 5-4 overall, 2-3 in the Gateway played, without No. 1 running back Brian Thompson, out with a season-ending knee injury, and No. 2 running back Pierre Rembert, who also has a knee injury. Averaging 206 yards per game previously, Illinois State gained just 40 yards in 36 attempts on the ground against WIU.
Western Illinois 3-6, 1-4 in the Gateway, earned its first win against a ranked team in five tries this season as Travis Glasford gained 124 yards on 25 carries for the Leathernecks.
Quarterback Steve LaFalce picked up his own fumble to score the first Leatherneck touchdown with 10:02 left in the first quarter as WIU took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in 15 plays to take a 7-0 lead.
A picture-perfect, 46-yard Ryan Hoffman punt rolled out of bounds at the Leatherneck one-yard line late in the first quarter. Three plays later, a WIU punt put ISU on the Leatherneck 38. After a 21-yard drive, Kevin Mazur booted a 35-yard field goal to put ISU on the scoreboard with 11 seconds left in the first period.
Five minutes into the second quarter, another Hoffman punt put the Leathernecks on their own two-yard line, but LaFalce hit Marco Thomas in stride for a 98-yard touchdown pass, breaking a 20-year-old Hancock Stadium record for longest pass completion. That play was Steve Stull to Tim Turner for 92 yards in a Redbird win over Indiana State. WIU led 14-3 with 9:26 left in the second quarter. LaFalce hit Glasford with a 19-yard touchdown pass capping a six-play, 86-yard drive to give WIU a 21-3 lead at halftime, the largest Redbird deficit of the season.
Illinois State took the second-half kickoff and drove to the WIU 15, but missed a 32-yard field goal. The second ISU drive covered 78 yards in 11 plays finished by the first Drone-to-Jackson pass for 18 yards and the first ISU touchdown of the day with 6:43 left in the third quarter. ISU trailed 21-10. Taylor Rowan's 41-yard field goal with 3:11 left in the third quarter took the WIU lead to 24-10.
Javid Milton's 21-yard touchdown run, his first career touchdown, ended an 8-play, 62-yard drive with 9:23 left in the game and Western Illinois led 31-10.
Drone hit Jackson with a 55-yard scoring strike with 8:09 left to get the `Birds back within 31-17. On the first play after the kickoff, Kye Stewart recovered a Leatherneck fumble to give Illinois State the ball at the WIU 24 yard line. But two penalties and a sack pushed the Redbirds back 20 yards and Chris McNutt intercepted a fourth-down pass to end the threat.
The Redbirds play at Missouri State next Saturday.
