The first weekend of Gateway Football Conference action featured a couple blowouts and one close contest.

But in the end, five Gateway teams remained in the Top 25. The two conference leaders – No. 7 ranked SIU and No. 2 Northern Iowa – won Saturday to remain undefeated while Illinois State and Western Illinois both lost to fall to No. 22 and 23 respectively. Meanwhile, Youngstown State, SIU’s next opponent defeated Missouri State to remain at the No. 10 position.

The Salukis (5-0, 1-0 Gateway) disposed of Indiana State, 72-10, and the Panthers pulled away from Illinois State in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points in the final frame to win 23-13.

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Northern Iowa senior quarterback Eric Sanders threw a five-yard touchdown pass with five minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the game, which turned out to be the winning score. Sanders, who had two touchdown passes, upped his season total to six and further solidified his presence on the Payton Award Watch list, which honors the top offensive player in the Football Championship Series.

Conversely, SIU quarterback Nick Hill, who has not been dubbed as a candidate for the award, continued his season streak of not throwing an interception for the fifth game of the season.

After SIU beat the Sycamores, Saluki coach Jerry Kill said he would assess how the Salukis did and then prepare for Youngstown State.

“It don’t get any easier, and we know that,” Kill said.

The Penguins (4-1, 1-0) hosted Missouri State Saturday, scoring 28 unanswered points en route to a 49-21 win.

The win for Youngstown State was its fourth in a row after dropping the season opener to Ohio State, 38-6.

Against Missouri State, the Penguins totaled 304 yards on the ground in the game, running the ball 51 times. Penguin running back Kevin Smith ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears (3-2, 0-1), and as a result Smith was named the Gateway’s Offensive Player-of-the-Week.

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The Gateway, which hands out an offensive, defensive and special teams player-of-the-week award for each week, gave Northern Iowa the other two weekly honors.

Panthers’ safety Clifford Waters was named the defensive player-of-the-week after recording nine tackles and an interception during the fourth quarter of Northern Iowa’s win over Illinois State (2-3, 0-1) while place kicker Billy Hallgren garnered the special teams award.

In non-conference action, the Western Illinois Leathernecks hosted North Dakota State and lost, 41-28.

Western Illinois (3-2) led 21-17 in the second quarter, but allowed the Bison – who will join the Gateway next season – to score 24 straight points before the Leathernecks scored again.

Western Illinois’ next opponent will be Indiana State as the Sycamores attempt to get their first victory in almost a year.

Illinois State and Missouri State, both winless in the Gateway, will also face each other Saturday.

Scott Mieszala can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 256 or [email protected].