Bulldogs fall at Murphysboro

Harrisburg was hoping to get back on the winning track with an upset of Murphysboro at Doc Bencini Field, but instead ran into a buzz saw named Tyjaire Kellum, who scored five touchdowns and rushed for 153 yards in leading the Red Devils to a 47-13 win in a SIRR Ohio Division game Friday night.

“Kellum is a very good athlete,” said Harrisburg coach Matt Griffith. “We came out good defensively and offensively we were moving the ball well offensively, but we just couldn’t finish. We were doing things right, so I was pretty happy with that, but we had a couple big missed opportunities early on. The dropped pass by Reed Rider was a big one and not picking up the blitzes when we had wide receivers open or the running back not getting the holes open were others.”

The Red Devils exploded in the second quarter scoring 34 points, including two touchdowns, in a span of 57 seconds with 4:48 remaining and two more touchdowns in the final 1:57, to take a 40-6 lead at the half.

“Early in the game we were able to force them into some three-and-outs or some stalled drives keeping it relatively close, but they kept going back to Kellum and evidently they were able to find holes for him,” Griffith said.

Murphysboro (6-1, 3-0 Ohio) came into the game on a five-game winning streak and ranked 10th in the state in Class 4A. This week Ohio Division co-leaders Murphysboro and Carterville (5-2, 3-0 Ohio) face off for the conference title.

Harrisburg (4-3, 1-2 Ohio) came into the game after a 28-7 loss to Carterville snapped its three-game winning streak. This week the Bulldogs host cross-conference foe Herrin (1-6) Friday on Pink Out for Cancer Awareness night at 7 p.m.

“Herrin has been hanging with teams close and then those games are getting away from them,” Griffith said. “There is nothing overly flashy you get from Herrin. They will do a couple spread formations, but the majority of the time they will hang out in the wishbone. They will be looking to use misdirection to get to Chris Nelson and Kyrese Lukens, so we are preparing for their speed. Offensively, we want to re-establish the run.”

The game also has playoff implications with the Bulldogs needing at least one more win to keep their three-year playoff streak going. Last year Harrisburg advanced to the 4A quarterfinals.

“Five wins makes you playoff eligible and six wins gives you a guarantee,” Griffith said. “We’ve been able to get in twice at 5-4, but there is no guarantee, so we are focusing on Herrin to get that fifth win before we focus on Benton. Herrin is playing for some high notes to end their season while Benton is in the same situation we’re in at 4-3. The next two weeks are very crucial.”

There was a scary moment at the start of the third quarter when receiver Aiden Unthank was involved in a helmet to helmet collision on a pass play and became unresponsive on the sidelines. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he spent the night.

“I got to his room about midnight and he was able to talk to me, so he bounced back really quick,” Griffith said.

The game got off to a great start with the Bulldogs defense holding Kellum to one carry for three yards in the game’s opening offensive series forcing a punt, but Gibson Fager’s kick rolled to the Harrisburg seven leaving a lot of real-estate ahead of the Bulldogs offense for their first drive.

The drive never got off the ground with Reed Rider held to two yards on first down. Brendan Hicks was dropped for a yard loss on second down, and Rider dropped Owen Rann’s third down pass forcing a punt from its own eight and leaving Murphysboro a short-field at the Bulldogs 36.

The Red Devils were still having trouble moving the ball, gaining only seven yards to face 4th-and-3. Bryson Canaley got the ball rolling with a 10-yard run around left end and Kellum got into the groove on the next play also racing around left end for a 19-yard touchdown run. The point after kick was wide left leaving Murphysboro up 6-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

Harrisburg started its second possession with a three-yard run by Hicks and an eight-yard gain by Aiden Hankins for a first down. Then the drive devolved into four straight penalties on first down that including a 15-yard interference penalty against Murphysboro, eventually leaving a 2nd-and-11 at the Murphysboro 44.

Then Hicks was stopped for no gain and Rann failed to connect with Hankins forcing another punt that initially was a great play leaving Murphysboro 88-yards away from pay dirt.

Kellum got the drive off to a decent start with runs of seven and four yards for a first down, and then the Murphysboro coaching staff changed its strategy and sent Kellum out in the right flat where Fager passed to him along the sideline and the senior weaved through the Bulldogs defense for 56 yards to the Harrisburg 21.

Three plays later Fager scored from the 15, but the touchdown was called back on a 10-yard personal foul penalty. So the powers that be went back to the tried-and-true and let Kellum run the ball in from the 17 for the touchdown. The extra point kick was again botched leaving the Red Devils with a 12-0 lead with 10:21 left in the first half.

After the kickoff Harrisburg drove from its own 20 to the Murphysboro 17 on nine plays, including a 15-yard run by Rann and two Rider runs of 18 and 12 yards, but Hankins was stopped for a three-yard loss on second down and Rann overthrew Rider on 3rd-and-11.

On fourth down, Rider caught a 20-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back on a man downfield penalty, leaving 4th-and-16. Rann threw an incompletion, but both teams were called for a penalty. On the second chance, Rann tried to hit his most reliable receiver Unthank, but they couldn’t connect turning ball over the Red Devils at their own 25 with five minutes left.

Then lightning struck figuratively not literally when Fager and the kicker Cade Brooks, who had missed the first two extra point kicks, connected along the west sideline for a 75-yard touchdown pass that took just 12 seconds to up the lead to 19-0 after Brooks drilled the extra point.

The Red Devil momentum continued to work for the defense with Jarryion Agnew intercepting Rann on 2nd-and-10 from the Harrisburg 30 and returning to the 20. Kellum needed just two plays and a half the distance to goal penalty to score from the seven and after another successful Brooks kick the Red Devils led 26-0 with 3:51 still remaining in the first half.

The Bulldogs tried to snatch the momentum with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Rann to Rider, but that was it when the Red Devils special teams blocked the extra point.

That momentum translated to the offense again with the Red Devils needing just three plays, including having to overcome a holding penalty that wiped out a 32-yard touchdown by Kellum on second down, Two plays later Kellum scored on a 19-yard run with 1:57 remaining. After Brooks kicked the extra point Murphysboro led 33-6.

Rann had the Bulldogs driving again with passes 16 and 10 yards to Unthank, seven to Braxton Welge and 20 to Rider to move the ball from their own 25 to the Murphysboro 31. But the drive stalled on four straight incomplete passes, turning the ball over with 11 seconds left.

Kellum needed 10 of those seconds to run the 69 yards into the end zone. Brooks kicked the point and with one second left the Red Devils took a 40-6 lead into halftime.

Harrisburg’s opening drive of the second half lasted just a minute and 26 seconds and four plays that started with a two-yard loss, an incomplete pass and a 10-yard sack.

On 4th-and-22 a low snap resulted in the punter touching his knee to the turf turning the ball over to the Red Devils at the Harrisburg 17. Two plays later Mason Bastien scored from the 15. Brooks kicked the point successfully again to up the lead to 47-6 and trigger the running clock.

Harrisburg turned the ball back to Murphysboro on fourth down at the Harrisburg 33 on its next possession, but the Red Devils fumbled the ball into the end zone with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.

Harrisburg took over on its won 20 and drove the length of the field on 10 plays, including 12-yard run by Brenda Hicks on the first play and a 20-yard pass to Rider on the eighth play, finishing with Hicks scoring from the eight. Burke Wilson kicked the point to cut the lead to 47-13 with 7:25 left.