| Redbirds finish 2009 season on winning note |
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| Written by Tony Andracki, Daily Vidette Sports Editor |
| Monday, 30 November 2009 01:51 |
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In 1999’s “Any Given Sunday,” Al Pacino tells his players on the gridiron that “four seconds is a lifetime.” Matt Lancaster and Eyad Salem know exactly what he was talking about. With five seconds left in the Redbirds’ season-ending game against the previously No. 9-ranked Northern Iowa Panthers, Lancaster hit Salem in the end zone from eight yards out for the game-winning score in the ‘Birds’ come-from-behind 22-20 victory. “Man, what a way to end it,” Salem said. “They had a couple of guys out there in front of me and I was able to split them and find an opening. Matt did an amazing job just finding somewhere for me to get it.” The Redbirds jumped out to an early 13-0 lead off of two Zach Kutch field goals and a Chris Garrett interception returned for a touchdown. UNI finally got on the board with just under two minutes to go in the first half with a 25-yard field goal, but another Kutch field goal, this one from 52 yards, sent the ‘Birds into the locker room at halftime with a 16-3 lead. Both teams saw their starting quarterbacks, Pat Grace for UNI and Matt Brown for ISU, leave the game due to injury in the second quarter and the game turned into a defensive battle until five minutes remained in the game. After a third-quarter UNI field goal brought the score to 16-6, Grace’s replacement, Zach Davis, hit Jerred Herring on a 19-yard scoring strike with 5:12 left in the game. Kutch’s field goal attempt on the ensuing drive was blocked and the Panthers took over at their own 34 yard line with 2:21 remaining. Davis drove them down to the Redbirds’ 25-yard line before throwing an interception to ISU cornerback E.J. Jones with 1:19 left.  The Redbirds proceeded to run on three straight plays, but two UNI timeouts and running back Cliffton Gordon’s inability to stay in bounds on third down took just 23 seconds off the clock. A high snap on fourth down led to just a 4-yard punt from Kevin Mazur and the Panthers took over at the Redbirds’ 36 with just under one minute remaining. Davis threw an incomplete pass before finding tight end Schuylar Oordt for a 36-yard touchdown to take the lead 20-16, setting the stage for Lancaster’s last-second heroics. “Losing the lead there at the end of the game and to fight back and having a freshman quarterback lead us down for a game-winning touchdown on the last play was tremendous,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said. “Our kids have come a long way from 12 weeks ago when we opened up at Eastern Illinois. Twelve weeks ago, we never could have done this. I’m real proud of our team.” The win cemented the Redbirds (6-5) with their first winning season since 2006 and moved ISU into a third-place tie with UNI in the Missouri Valley Football Conference standings. The much-maligned ISU defense came through in the clutch against the heavily-favored Panthers, stuffing a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line and pulling down four interceptions. “We talked about that last catch and last drive all day, but the heroes today are the defense,” Salem said. “They played the best game of the year. I was so proud of how our defense held out and kept stopping them. Even when Pat Grace was still in, they had two picks on him. It was an amazing effort by the defense. I’m so proud of them.” The win also ensured that Salem and the 12 other ISU seniors left the campus on a winning note. “They’re very, very happy and ecstatic,” Spack said. “[The reaction in the locker room] was elation…The way we won it, to be dominated like their defense dominated in the second half and find a way to drive the football and put it in the endzone to win the game, it was a tremendous accomplishment for our whole team.” |
