10/15/05
Saturday,
October 15, 2005
Friday
football: Martinsville upsets Red Hill
MARTINSVILLE, Ill. - Red Hill coach
Bill Evans was wary of an upset all week and Martinsville made him
realize his worst fears Friday.
The Bluestreaks drove 75 yards in the
final four minutes of the game, getting an 8-yard Andy Chambers run and
a Nathan Tingley point-after kick with 1:05 remaining to edge the
Salukis, 21-20.
Red Hill (5-3 overall and Little
Illini Conference) was coming off an upset of state-ranked Cumberland a
week ago and had its three-game winning streak stopped. The Salukis are
already qualified for the playoffs with five wins, but the loss means
the best they can do is 6-3 and likely will not get a home game in the
tourney's first round.
”It's sad. We've come so far and then
to do something like this is very disappointing,“ Evans said. ”Our
Cumberland win is really tarnished right now.
”We have to come with a better
attitude. We were OK in the first quarter but for the most part we
didn't show up,“ he said.
The Salukis outgained Martinsville
(2-6 overall and Little Illini), 357-269, but the Bluestreaks benefited
greatly from three fumble recoveries.
Red Hill fumbled on Martinsville's
17, 36 and 30. The Bluestreaks converted the last two recoveries into
scoring drives.
The favored Salukis started strongly,
building a 14-0 lead one play into the second quarter.
Red Hill went 58 yards in eight plays
on its first drive. Ryan James caught a 19-yard pass from Chris Wampler
on third-and-goal to take a 7-0 lead.
James' 20-yard punt return set up the
Salukis on the Bluestreaks' 32 that started Red Hill's second scoring
drive. The visitors needed just three plays to score, with Joey
Carmichael reaching the end zone from 13 yards away.
Martinsville converted the fumbles
into running scores by Philip and Matt Higginbotham, tying the game at
14 in the third quarter.
Red Hill retook the lead with 8:07
remaining in the game, marching 80 yards in eight plays. Carmichael had
a 27-yard run and 23-yard reception for the big plays and Nick Straka
finished it with a 2-yard run.
Fredrik Jensen missed the extra
point, but Martinsville was called for offsides. On the second attempt,
the Bluestreaks penetrated and smothered Jensen's attempt to keep Red
Hill's lead at 20-14.
Each team was forced to punt. After
the Salukis first punt of the game, Martinsville went on its
game-winning drive.
Philip Higginbotham ran 50 yards on
the first play to get to Red Hill's 25. On fourth-and-six, Dylan
Cribelar caught a 13-yard pass from Matt Higginbotham to move the ball
to the Salukis' 8. On second down, Chambers ran straight ahead on his
first carry for the touchdown and Tingley's point after gave
Martinsville the lead.
Red Hill made one last push.
Carmichael took the kickoff to the
Salukis' 42 and he later caught a 23-yard pass from Wampler to get the
ball to the Bluestreaks' 30. Needing about 10 yards to give Jensen a
field goal try, Red Hill was stopped on a running play and three
incompletions, and gave the ball over to Martinsville with 10 seconds
remaining.
”We were so flat in warmups, then we
got the 14-point lead and looking to put up another score, and
fumbled,“ Evans said. ”It was ugly. We need to respect everyone we're
playing. Hats off to Martinsville. They played hard.“
The Salukis host Flora on Senior
Night next Friday and will await the tournament draw next Saturday.
Bluestreaks 21, Salukis 20
RH M
First downs 21 14
by rushing 15 9
by passing 5 4
by penalty 1 1
Rushes-yards38-231 39-181
Passes (C-A-I)6-14-0 7-14-2
Passing yards 126 88
Total yards 357 269
Punts-avg. 1-35 5-36.4
Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-30 7-51
Time of possession 20:37 27:23
Score by quarters
Red Hill 7-7-0-6 - 20
Martinsville 0-7-7-7 - 21
SCORING PLAYS
RED HILL - Ryan James 19 pass from
Chris Wampler (Fredrik Jensen kick), 6:10 1st qtr.
RED HILL - Joey Carmichael 13 run
(Jensen kick), 11:53 2nd qtr.
MARTINSVILLE - Philip Higginbotham 1
run (Nathan Tingley kick), 2:02 2nd qtr.
MARTINSVILLE - Matt Higginbotham 3
run (Tingley kick), 4:45 3rd qtr.
RED HILL - Nick Straka 2 run (kick
blocked), 8:07 4th qtr.
MARTINSVILLE - Andy Chambers 8 run
(Tingley kick), 1:05 4th qtr.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - RED HILL: Marc Rucker 1-7,
Straka 11-66 (TD), Wampler 5-(-18), Lenny Diggs 2-11, Carmichael 19-165
(TD). MARTINSVILLE: Dylan Cribelar 7-39, Ma. Higginbotham 3-4 (TD), P.
Higginbotham 24-124 (TD), Bryan Bennett 3-2, Bobby Short 1-4, Chambers
1-8 (TD).
PASSING - RED HILL: Wampler 6-14-0,
126 (TD). MARTINSVILLE: M. Higginbotham 7-14-2, 88.
RECEIVING - RED HILL: Carmichael
4-77, James 1-19 (TD), Brad Padgett 1-30. MARTINSVILLE: Cribelar 3-34,
P. Higginbotham 2-18, Short 1-17, Gary Downey 1-20.
PUNTING - RED HILL: Wampler 1-35, 35.
MARTINSVILLE: Cribelar 5-182, 36.4.
PUNT RETURNS - RED HILL: James 1-20,
Carmichael 1-15. MARTINSVILLE: none.
KICKOFF RETURNS - RED HILL:
Carmichael 2-43, Straka 1-32, Conner Kirkwood 1-17. MARTINSVILLE:
Cribelar 2-29, Bennett 1-5, Short 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS - RED HILL: Ryan Hill
1-0, Rucker 1-0. MARTINSVILLE: none.
