ST. LOUIS – The Illinois State rushing attack was prevalent, and the Redbird offensive was potent once again scoring more than 30 points against Western Illinois, which led to offensive tackle Hunter Zambrano being named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week by the league office on Monday.
The junior left tackle from Weston, Florida, and the rest of the Redbird offensive line dominated the game late in Illinois State's 34-18 conference opening win on the road at Western Illinois. Zambrano graded out at 94 percent on the day and did not allow a sack, as the Redbird rushing attack averaged 6.7 yards per carry and racked up 276 yards on the ground while scoring four times. He not only led the way for MVFC Offensive Player of the Week Mason Blakemore, who ran for 170 yards and three touchdowns, but also kept quarterback Zack Annexstad clean as he completed 69 percent of his passes and threw for another score.Â
With their performance against the Leathernecks, the Redbirds now rank second in the MVFC with 234.5 yards per game on the ground and rank third with seven rushing touchdowns through two weeks, just two short of their entire 2022 total of nine rushing touchdowns.
Zambrano and his teammates will travel to Charleston to take on Eastern Illinois in the 111th meeting of the Mid-America Classic on Saturday, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. at O'Brien Field.
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