Local Sports

Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois All Lose Saturday

>>Michigan Pounds Illinois
 
Wilton Speight threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters before watching No. 3 Michigan finish off Illinois 41-8 Saturday.
 
The Wolverines (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were leading 34-0 in the fourth quarter when Jim Harbaugh put backup quarterback John O'Korn in the game and rested Speight.
 
The Fighting Illini (2-5, 1-3) were relegated to starting their third-string quarterback with a familiar name. Jeff George Jr., son of the former Illinois and NFL quarterback, was 4 of 15 for 95 yards with a TD, an interception and a fumble in his first start. The redshirt freshman played because Wes Lunt and Chayce Crouch are injured.
 
Speight, who completed 16 of 23 passes, threw a 3-yard TD pass to Jake Butt and a 21-yard pass to Tyrone Wheatley Jr. for a score in the first quarter. Khalid Hill's ninth touchdown and De'Veon Smith's 4-yard run gave the Wolverines a 28-0 lead after their first four possessions.
 
After Michigan botched a fake punt near midfield in the fourth quarter with a 34-0 lead, George threw a 43-yard TD pass to Malik Turner on the next snap and followed with a 2-yard conversion pass to Zach Grant.
 
Karan Higdon scored on a 45-yard run on the ensuing possession and finished with 106 yards rushing on just eight carries for the Wolverines.
 
>>South Dakota Tops Illinois State
 
Backup quarterback Austin Simmons threw for two touchdowns as South Dakota edged Illinois State 27-24 on Saturday.
 
Simmons, a redshirt freshman filling in for injured starter Chris Streveler, had 205 yards on 13-of-30 passing for the Coyotes (4-3, 3-1 Missouri Valley). Michael Frederick ran for a score and Miles Bergner kicked a pair of field goals.
 
Simmons threw a 15-yard score Riley Donovan late in the first quarter and a 26-yard scoring strike to Tacari Carpenter late in the second and South Dakota led 24-17 at the break.
 
Bergner's second field goal of the day, a 39-yarder, made it 27-17 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.
 
The Redbirds (3-5, 1-4) closed to within 27-24 in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard pass from Jake Kolbe to Christian Gibbs with 7:43 to play but that was the end of the scoring.
 
Kolbe threw for 241 yards for Illinois State.
 
>>North Dakota Downs Western
 
North Dakota State shook off last week's last-second loss to South Dakota State to beat Western Illinois 21-13 on Saturday night.
 
The Bison intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble in the end zone, while holding the Leathernecks to 269 total yards.
 
King Frazier ran 20 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns and Easton Stick shook off two interceptions to pass for 160 yards and a score.
 
The fourth-ranked Bison (6-1, 3-1 Missouri Valley Conference) have not lost back-to-back games since ending a five-game losing streak in 2009.
 
Sean McGuire was 19-for-27 for 183 yards and led WIU in rushing with 37 yards.
 
NDSU held WIU to 86 yards rushing.
 
WIU's Lance Lenoir caught seven passes for 61 yards. He is one catch away from the MVFC reception record of 250 by Tyrone Walker of Illinois State (2009-12).
 
>>Murray State Upends Eastern Illinois
 
Connor Mitchell kicked six field goals as Murray State rallied to upend Eastern Illinois 40-38 on Saturday.
 
KD Humphries threw for 299 yards and a score for the Racers (2-5, 2-2 Ohio Valley Conference). Mareio McGraw ran for 139 yards and a score and Jesse Blackburn had 147 yards and a score receiving.
 
Trailing 21-3 at the end of the first quarter, the Racers rallied to score 16 unanswered points on three Mitchell field goals - including one from 49 yards - and a scoring run by Demetric Johnson to cut the Eastern Illinois lead to 21-19 with 11:52 to go in the third quarter.
 
McGraw ran for a 77-yard touchdown to put Murray State on top, 37-31, with 9:00 left in the game. Mitchell kicked his sixth field goal to make it 40-31 with 2:31 remaining.
 
Mitch Kimble threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers (6-3, 3-2).

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook