NORMAL, Ill. – A 28-point second quarter for No. 16 Illinois State propelled the Redbirds (7-3, 4-2 MVFC) to a dominant 52-20 win over Indiana State (3-7, 1-5 MVFC) on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute.
How It Happened:
• The Redbirds took the first lead of the game, as Tommy Rittenhouse connected with tight end Max Ziebarth for a 2-yard touchdown to cap off a 10-play, 70-yard drive with 6:13 left in the first quarter to make it 7-0.
• Indiana State would tie the game at 7-7 with 2:01 left in the opening quarter, at Talan White caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Keegan Patterson after starting the drive with good field position.
• Illinois State came right back and regained the lead on a 6-yard touchdown run by Victor Dawson that made the score 14-7 just over a minute into the second quarter.
• The back-and-forth continued, as the Sycamores tied the game with 10:52 left in the second quarter as Rashad Rochelle broke free for a 64-yard touchdown reception from Patterson to knot the game at 14-14.
• A 3-yard touchdown pass from Rittenhouse to Dylan Lord would give the Redbirds the lead back at 21-14, as Illinois State went 52 yards in nine plays to find the endzone and regain the lead with 6:57 left before halftime
• Coming out of the 2-minute timeout just before halftime, Rittenhouse found Seth Glatz in the flat for a screen pass and he ran 20 yards untouched for the score to put the Redbirds up 28-14 with 1:39 left before the break.
• An interception by linebacker Patrick Bauer gave the Redbirds the ball back near midfield with under a minute to play, but strong runs by Dawson put the Redbirds in the red zone and Rittenhouse ended the 31 second scoring drive by calling his own number and running it in from four yards out to make the score 35-14 with 22 seconds in the half.
• Illinois State blew the game open at 42-14 on a 12-yard touchdown catch by Daniel Sobkowicz with 10:18 left in the third quarter.
• Glatz scored his second touchdown of the game, this one on a 2-yard touchdown run, to widen the Illinois State advantage to 49-14 with 7:28 left in the third quarter.
• A 33-yard yard touchdown run by Deion Brown would trim the Illinois State lead to 49-20 with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter, but the extra point attempt by the Sycamores was no good and the score stayed there.
• A 49-yard field goal by Matt Maldonado with 1:01 left in the third quarter would push the lead to 52-20 for the Redbirds as the game headed into the fourth quarter … the Redbirds would ice the game on the ground with strong runs from Cal Martine to secure their fourth-straight road win.
Game Notes:
• The 52 points scored by the Redbirds were their most since scoring 67 against Morgan State in a win on Sept. 12, 2015 … it was also the most points scored in a MVFC contest since scoring 55 against the Sycamores in 2013.
• Illinois State's 28 points scored in the second quarter tie a school record for most points in the second stanza.
• The first quarter score marked the first reception and touchdown of the season for Ziebarth … it was also his second career touchdown on just three career receptions.
• Dawson's rushing touchdown to open the second quarter was his third of the season and second in two weeks for the Redbirds … he finished the game with a career-high 116 yards on 21 carries to go over 100 yards rushing for the second-straight game.
• The touchdown by Lord in the second quarter was his second of the season and second in his career at Illinois State … he ended the game with a career-high 87 yards on nine receptions with the touchdown.
• The receiving touchdown by Glatz was his second of the season.
• With his 31 yards, Daniel Sobkowicz moved into second place on the career receiving yards list (3,031) moving past Laurent Robinson (3,007) and with his touchdown reception in the third quarter, Sobkowicz now has 30 in his career to move into sole possession of third on the career receiving touchdowns list breaking a tie with Robinson (29).
• The interception for Patrick Bauer was his first career INT and Wilson's was his second of the year.
• Rittenhouse accounted for five touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing) and completed 86 percent of his passes on the day … he finished 29-for-34 for 314 yards on the game and rushed for 19 yards on the day.
• Niekamp led the Redbirds with 10 tackles, a TFL and two pass breakups, while Christian Lorenzo had a sack and 1.5 TFLs on the contest.
Next Up:
The Redbirds will travel to Brookings, South Dakota, to take on No. 8/9 South Dakota State in a crucial late season matchup. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
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