S. Illinois suffers first setback
Eric Sanders threw for 253 yards and a touchdown, Corey Lewis rushed for 93 yards, and Northern Iowa hung on to beat Southern Illinois 30-24 on Saturday night in a matchup of unbeatens at Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The Panthers (6-0, 2-0 Gateway) also used 3 field goals from kicker Billy Hallgren -- including a 53-yarder -- to pick up their 11th straight home win over Southern Illinois (6-1, 2-1).
Northern Iowa jumped ahead 20-7 at halftime, then had to hang on as the Salukis cut the lead to 30-24 late in the fourth quarter and recovered an onside kick.
The Panthers intercepted a pass by Nick Hill to stop the rally, but Southern Illinois got the ball back with 10 seconds left. The Salukis' Alan Turner, on a pitch from Hill, reached the Northern Iowa 3 before being dragged down.
Hill was 33 of 45 for 414 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He found Justin Allen for a 7-yard TD pass with under two minutes left to keep Southern Illinois' hopes alive.
Johnny Gray had 117 yards receiving on 9 catches. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd on 17,074, the largest in UNI-Dome history.
Illinois St. 69, Indiana St. 17: Rafael Rice rushed for 182 yards to lead host Illinois State (3-4, 1-2 Gateway Conference) over Indiana State (0-7, 0-3).
Rice ran 5 yards to score a touchdown in the third period to add to 10 touchdowns for Illinois State. The Redbirds rushed for 438 yards and passed for 154 yards to earn 33 first downs. A missed extra point after the last touchdown kept the Redbirds from 70.
E. Illinois 27, Murray St. 24: Micah Rucker caught 11 passes for 153 yards as Eastern Illinois (4-3, 3-1 Ohio Valley) beat host Murray State (1-5, 0-3).
Eastern Illinois never trailed in the game, but Murray State kept it close throughout, scoring in the final minute to cut the Panther lead to 27-24. The Racers couldn't recover the onside kick. With no Murray State timeouts remaining, the Panthers kneeled and ran out the clock.
W. Illinois 31, Missouri St. 10: Herb Donaldson rushed for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead host Western Illinois (5-2, 2-0 in the Gateway) past Missouri State (4-3, 1-2).
It was the second 300-yard game in Donaldson's career, and his 314 yards were the second most in Gateway Football Conference history.
The Leathernecks' defense allowed just 1 touchdown and 287 yards.