Coming off of an impressive win against North Dakota on homecoming weekend, the Panthers made their way to Normal, Ill. for a matchup with Illinois State on Saturday, Oct. 28. The Panthers came into the game with the same record as the Redbirds with each team posting a 4-3 record. It was a big game for both teams, as they were looking to pick up another win to push them closer to the playoffs. In the end, it was the Panthers that were able to best the Redbirds in a tight battle.
The game could not have started any better for the Panthers. On the first drive of the game for the Redbirds, they fumbled on the UNI 46 -yard line, and the Panther’s Cannon Butler recovered it. The Panthers made good use of the great field possession, and put up the first score of the game on a three-yard touchdown run by Amauri Pesek-Hickson. Illinois State improved on the faults of their first drive, and tied the game up with a one-yard rush by Zack Annexstad.
Early in the second quarter, after a long drive for the Panthers, Pesek-Hickson found his way into the endzone once again as the Panthers took a 14-7 lead. After the defense caused a quick three- and-out, the offense got back to work. Theo Day took the Panthers down the field with big pass after big pass, and the quick scoring drive was capped off with a seven yard touchdown catch by Desmond Hutson. Neither offense got much going the rest of the half, but a fumble by the Panther’s Sergio Morancy set the Redbirds up with great field possession with just 3 minutes left. The drive started at their own 46 yard line, and gave them plenty of time to get a score before the half. They managed to do just that on an Annexstad touchdown pass to Daniel Sobkowicz. The late score for the Redbirds made it 21-14 in favor of the Panthers at halftime.
With the score already at 21-14 going into the second half, it seemed like it was going to be a high scoring affair, but it did not turn out that way. UNI started out with a solid drive, but ended down in Illinois State territory when Day was intercepted by Mark Cannon Jr. After that drive, no one was able to get anything going the rest of the third quarter. Going into the final quarter, the score remained at 21-14.
The Panthers got the ball back with 11:41 left in the final quarter, and went to work on wasting as much clock as possible. On a drive that started at the UNI 13 yard line, the Panthers marched down the field. On the back of 15 plays, 11 of which were runs, the Panthers managed to take the clock all the way down to 2:48 when Matthew Cook put a 31-yard field goal through the uprights to extend the lead to 10. With little time left, the Redbirds worked quickly to get a score. They managed a touchdown with 27 seconds left, but they still trailed by three. If they wanted a chance to win, they needed to recover the onside kick. They nearly made the recovery, but the ball made its way out of bounds, securing the victory for the Panthers 24-21.
For the Panthers, Day threw for 289 yards and a touchdown, connecting with seven different receivers on the day. Sam Schnee led the way with five catches for 78 yards and Desmond Hutson had three catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. Pesek-Hickson led the way in the run game, with 107 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. The Panthers improved to 5-3 on the season, and 4-1 in conference play. They are winners of five of their last six games, and will look to keep the winning ways going this coming week, when they play host Western Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 4. Game time is 1 p.m.
