Big gains on big blocks

By Gus Bode

Nick Hill netted 241 yards on 20 completions in SIU’s 45-10 win against Missouri State Saturday, but the senior quarterback’s arm didn’t get much of a workout.

Most of the yardage in the passing game came after the catch, with receivers making the defense miss early and capitalizing on solid blocking down field to move the sticks.

Hill said he was happy to defer to the athletic receivers and capitalize on the soft coverage up front.

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“Those are just good touches for good athletes on your team – when you can just throw it out there and, if they don’t make somebody miss you’re getting seven or eight yards, but if they do make somebody miss it’s a big play,” Hill said. “If they’re stacking the box, just throw it out there and make that kind of like our running plays.”

Hill and the receivers established the trend early, repeatedly dumping the ball to senior wide receiver Justin Allen short. Allen took advantage of the short catches, and capitalized on blocks from freshman wide receiver Jeff Evans and senior wide receiver Alan Turner.

Allen, coming off a career-high 107-yard performance in the loss against Northern Iowa Oct. 13, led SIU receivers with 97 yards on eight catches.

Turner, senior wide receiver Phil Goforth and sophomore tight end Ryan Kernes also had short catches go for big gains, with each earning long gains of at least 17 yards.

Though the passing game was a large factor in getting the ball down the field on the Salukis’ seven scoring drives, all six SIU touchdowns were a result of the running game, which also capitalized on good blocking.

Senior running back John Randle scored three touchdowns, each from less than 10 yards away. He said he has noticed drastic improvement in the blocking of the receivers throughout the season.

“My first touchdown I scored (senior wide receiver Alan Turner) was blocking real good off the edge, and I ran inside his block,” Randle said. “They block good down field, we can break.”

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Turner’s downfield blocking was on display again during the team’s longest score of the day – a 58-yard scamper from junior running back Larry Warner.

Warner first made a defender miss in the backfield, then capitalized on a block from sophomore fullback Rick Burgess and cut outside. Hugging the sideline as he streaked downfield, Warner had one man left to beat, until Turner beat him to it.

Turner blocked the defender out toward the sideline, allowing Warner to cut inside for the score.

Coach Jerry Kill said the gritty effort from the blockers made the runners look good.

“You don’t get big plays without blocking down field. Larry (Warner) got a big play on a long run because Alan Turner’s busting his tail end down the field. That’s all about playing hard.” Kill said.

Sean McGahan can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 269 or [email protected].

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