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Western Illinois University Athletics

FB Seniors
45
Winner Southern Illinois SIU 7-4 , 5-2
21
Western Illinois WIU 1-10 , 1-6
Winner
Southern Illinois SIU
7-4 , 5-2
45
Final
21
Western Illinois WIU
1-10 , 1-6
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SIU Southern Illinois 7 3 21 14 45
WIU Western Illinois 0 7 0 14 21

Game Recap: Football |

Second-Half Settles Senior Day

Twenty-one third quarter points allowed the Salukis to escape Hanson Field with a win.

MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois football welcomed six opponents to Hanson Field this season, and the home finale pit the Leathernecks against Southern Illinois on Saturday (Nov. 16). 

The teams battled for a 10-7 score at halftime, but 21 unanswered points in the third quarter allowed the Salukis to pull away in a 45-21 final. 

"[Football] is a momentum game, and when it's not in your favor, you have to find a way to stop it. And typically, to stop momentum, you have to generate an explosive somewhere out of a unit, offense, defense, or special teams, and we weren't able to do that. We did that in some moments, but not enough, and when we did, we weren't able to capitalize on it," said head coach Jared Elliott. "That's where we talked about team football, you stack on top of your units, the offensive compliments your defense and special teams, and we didn't do that consistently enough today." 

Western fumbled the ball on its first very possession, but it was given back – with the score untouched – after the defense made four straight goal-line stops.
 
The Leathernecks pressured all afternoon, and there were several big plays in Saluki territory.
 
Seniors LaCale London and Tom Rehfeld forced and recovered a fumble at Southern's 34-yard line, and Colton Folliard blocked a punt at the 12. Neither opportunity resulted in a score, though Max Norris was inches away from claiming Western's first of the game with 6:17 to go before halftime. 

Western's seniors continued to put on a show as George Wahee found the end zone on a 59-yard catch and run. Standing in the red zone, Rehfeld's interception – the first of his career – thwarted any chance of a last-second SIU score, and the Saluki's entered the break with a slight, 10-7, advantage. 
 
Nathan Erickson was sent out to attempt a 39-yard field goal at the 4:22-mark of the third quarter, when referees overturned the previous call - changing it from an incomplete pass to a fumble forced and recovered by the Salukis. The visitors scored on the ensuing possession and added another to enter the final frame with a 31-7 lead. 

"I told the guys we have one more opportunity," Elliott continued. "We have one more game together as a team, a total of seven more days for this 2019 team to be together and we're going to take advantage of every second and every moment. The only way to do that is to show up to work tomorrow with a positive attitude and correct some of these things that are not going to help us win games. I anticipate a team that's going to show up to win a game." 

Western heads to Northern Iowa next Saturday for the final game of the 2019 season. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. 
 

Notes

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