Oct. 27, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Western Illinois came into Saturday's Gateway Football Conference matchup against Illinois State at Hancock Stadium owning the seventh-best rushing offense in the nation. The Leatherneck offense lived up to its lofty billing, at least in the first quarter, as WIU used a lightning-fast scoring drive in the early minutes of the game to take a 7-0 lead.
The Redbirds started the game at their own 20-yard line after receiving the Western Illinois kickoff for a touchback. A quick three-and-out by ISU, followed by a punt, gave Western Illinois the ball on its own 45-yard line. The Leathernecks took full advantage of the situation, as running back Herb Donaldson took a handoff from quarterback Matt Barr and blew by the Redbird defense for a 55-yard touchdown run, to give WIU a 7-0 lead at the 13:23 mark in the first quarter. The Leathernecks' scoring drive took just 10 seconds off the clock, tying the shortest opponent scoring drive by time and by plays against the Redbirds this season.
Senior wide receiver Jason Horton led all Redbird receivers with 37 yards on four receptions.
The period was marred by penalties, as Western Illinois had five flags thrown against it, while ISU was called for one penalty.
GoRedbirds.com will provide quarter-by-quarter updates of Saturday's Illinois State versus Western Illinois football game from Hancock Stadium.
