NORMAL, Ill. – On a cold and windy day at Hancock Stadium, overtime was needed to decide the outcome between Illinois State and Western Illinois on Saturday. An eight-yard touchdown run by ISU quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse proved to be the deciding factor, as the WIU offense was shut down as the Redbirds (6-5, 4-4 MVFC) secured the 20-13 overtime victory over the Leathernecks (0-11, 0-8 MVFC) on Senior Day.
How It Happened:
•   Illinois State wasted little time taking the lead, as Sy Dabney picked off a pass by wide receiver Jaylin Jackson and returned it 36 yards for a pick six to give the Redbirds a 7-0 lead just 25 seconds into the game.
•   The Leathernecks tied things up early in the second quarter, when Erin Collins ran it in from 11 yards out for a touchdown and the extra point by Mason Laramie tied the game at 7-7 with 13:15 left in the second quarter.
•   With just over a minute remaining before halftime, the Redbirds regained the lead when Wenkers Wright powered his way in from two yards out for the touchdown, but the extra point attempt was missed to make the score 13-7 with 1:15 left before the break.
•   WIU cut into the ISU lead with a 41-yard field goal by Mason Laramie with 3:37 left in the third quarter to make it 13-10 in favor of the Redbirds.
•   The Leathernecks tied the game at 13-13 with just 45 seconds left on a 33-yard field goal by Laramie, but the Redbirds had a chance to win the game on a 48-yard field goal attempt by Ian Wagner with seven seconds remaining, but it fell just short and the game moved into overtime.
•   In overtime, the Redbirds had the ball first and Wright picked up a key first down to the WIU eight-yard line, before quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse called his own number and ran it in eight yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
•   WIU had a chance to answer, but a batted pass at the line of scrimmage by Josh Dinga forced a fourth-down attempt from the 25-yard line and it was Dinga again who came away with the game-winning sack for the Redbirds to secure the victory.
Game Notes: Â Â
•   With the win, the Redbirds secured a winning record at 6-5 and recorded the 11th six-plus win season in 14 years under the leadership of head coach Brock Spack.
•   Senior linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh turned in the best performance of his career in his final game in a Redbird uniform, recording career-highs in tackles (17), sacks (3.5) and tied a career-best in TFLs (4.0).
•   With his numbers against Western Illinois, Vandenburgh finished the year 14.0 sacks which ties him for second all-time on the single-season list with Ray Robinson (2003) and 21.0 TFLs, which ranks 5th in program history on the single-season list.
•   Vandenburgh also cracked the top 3 in career sacks with 24.0 (3rd best all-time passing Tony Jones) and TFLs with 43.5 (3rd best all-time passing College Football Hall of Famer Boomer Grigsby).
•   Linebacker Kenton Wilhoit also had a career day, recording a career-best 16 tackles and 2.5 TFLs against the Leathernecks including 1.5 sacks.
•   Lavoise-Deontae McCoy posted career-highs in tackles (11) and TFLs (1.0).
•   Franky West also posted a career-best in tackles with 10 on the day against Western Illinois.
•   Dinga, who came up with the two big plays late in overtime for the Redbirds, tied career-bests in tackles and TFLs.
•   The interception by Dabney was his first of the season and the pick-six was his second touchdown of the year, following last week's punt block recovery in the endzone against No. 1 South Dakota State … it was also the third pick-six of the season for the Redbirds.
•   The win for Tommy Rittenhouse was his first in a Redbird uniform as a starter and his rushing touchdown in overtime was his third of the season.
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