10/28/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
MURPHYSBORO - It was the 'same ole song and dance' for the Murphysboro Red Devils on Friday night in their 4A Playoff game against visiting Columbia.

It was Devon Clemons running and Drew Caldwell passing.

Clemons rushed for 176-yards and three touchdowns on Friday night and Caldwell added to his passing totals with a pair of touchdowns and 158-yards in the air.

The two seniors led the Red Devils to a 41-28 win over the Eagles on Friday night.

Head coach Gary Carter's club advances into the second round, improving to 8-2 overall on the season while Columbia and mentor Scott Horner saw their campaign close at 6-4.

Six-two senior quarterback Dominic Voegele closed out his brilliant career with an outstanding performance in defeat for the Eagles.

He was 17-of-30 passing for 316-yards and three TD's while rushing 18-times for 95-yards.

But defensively Columbia simply couldn't contain Clemons, who had TD runs of 5, 49 and 73-yards.

“Without question he (Clemons) was the difference tonight. But when you got him doing what he's doing and you're trying to stop the run, you got guys with their eyes down trying to stop him and then they're not in coverage like they should be,” said Coach Horner. “And then they got a guy like number four (Abernathy) they can throw it to. They (Murphysboro) have a lot of threats and weapons.”

The touchdown passes from Caldwell covered 18 and 12 yards respectively to senior wide receiver Grayson Guthman and junior running back Sam Herring.

The Red Devils won the turnover battle, with an early interception by junior defensive back/running back Karmelo Abernathy and a fourth quarter fumble recovery by sophomore linebacker Emanuel Wells proving to be pivotal plays in the Murphysboro victory.

Murphysboro will advance to play on the road at the winner of the first round game Saturday night between #14 Quincy Notre Dame and #3 Macomb.

The Eagles led 7-0 in the first quarter as they took their second possession of the game after a Murphysboro punt pinned them deep in their own territory.

Coach Horner's club marched 82-yards in nine plays.

Voegele made the important key play in the drive, scrambling to his left and finding senior teammate Zach Wetzel on a 48-yard play that got the ball to the Murphysboro seven.

Three plays later on third-and-goal, sophomore running back Cameron Janik ran up the middle three-yards for a score.

The Voegele PAT kick put the Eagles up 7-0.

Murphysboro answered with a drive the culminated with the first Caldwell TD toss.

Clemons returned the kickoff 23-yards to set up the Red Devils at their own 45.

On a second-and-six from the Columbia 18, Caldwell dropped back and found Guthman wide open in the left corner of the endzone.

Although sophomore kicker AJ Boese missed the PAT, the Red Devils were on the board trailing 7-6 at the 11:20 mark of the second quarter.

A Columbia drive stalled at the Murphysboro 38 on fourth down with a Voegele incompletion, giving the Red Devils back the ball.

Caldwell and Abernathy hooked up for a 49-yard pass and catch that got the Devils to the Columbia five.

One play later Clemons went up the middle for a five-yard TD run.

Clemons added a two-point PAT run for a 14-7 advantage.

It appeared that the Eagles were going to get to halftime tied with the hosts.

With the ball on their own 25, it took just three plays Voegele and his teammates to score.

After a three-yard loss on the first play, Voegele scrambled to his left for 16-yards to the Columbia 38.

Then the senior quarterback rolled out to his right to buy some time and found Wetzel wide open on the right sideline.

Wetzel turned and ran untouched to the endzone, culminating in a 62-yard scoring strike.

The PAT from Voegele evened things at 14-14 with just 2:08 left in the half.

However the Red Devils struck again before intermission.

Another brilliant kick return by Clemons (35-yards) got the ball to the Murphysboro 47.

Clemons ran for six-yards and then Caldwell went to the air.

Three passes caught by Abernathy (2) and Finke got the Red Devils to the Columbia six-yard line.

Facing a third-and-goal at the three, Finke crashed through the Eagles' line for a touchdown with just :13 left in the half.

(CONTINIUED)

The PAT by Boese closed the first half scoring at 21-14 Murphysboro.

What the Eagles' defense needed was a stop on the Red Devils' opening drive of the third quarter.

They didn't get it.

Coach Carter's club came out with a five-play drive and the first long run of the night by Clemons.

Taking the ball on their own 38 after the Columbia kickoff, three runs by Clemons and one by Finke moved the ball into Columbia territory at the 49.

Then Clemons showed why he is one of the top running backs in southern Illinois.

The 5-8, 180 senior, broke through the middle of the Columbia line and made a nice move to his left and then took off.

He outran the Eagles' defense for a 49-yard touchdown.

The PAT by Boese pushed the lead to two scores at 28-14 at the 8:55 mark.

“That was a big turning point for us. We talked about it at halftime that we needed a stop (first possession of second half) but they (Murphysboro) went for a fourth down and got it. We felt like if we stayed within one touchdown we might get them to panic a little bit and maybe start doing some things they normally don't do.”

Columbia wasn't finished as they also quickly scored on its next drive.

Two Voegele completions got the Eagles back within one touchdown.

A 35-yard pass to 5-11 senior wide receiver Brennan Weik moved the Eagles to the Murphysboro 32.

On the next play Voegele found Weik again open on the left sideline.

Weik outdistanced the Red Devils' defense down the left sideline for a score.

The Voegele PAT from the score breathed some life into the Eagles at 28-21 with 6:09 left in the third.

But at this point, the Red Devils scored the next two times they had the ball.

Once again Clemons made a nice kickoff return to the Red Devils' 44 (29-yards) to set up the next scoring drive.

It took 10-plays to navigate 56-yards to paydirt.

The drive nearly stalled as a offensive pass interference call against Abernathy nullified a long TD pass.

A key play on the drive was a fourth-and-six Caldwell completion.

A screen pass to Herring on the left side went for a 19-yard gain to the Eagles' 19.

On a third-and-three from the Columbia 12, Caldwell found Herring open down the middle of the field for a 12-yard TD.

Another PAT from Boese with just :25 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 35-21.

A back-breaking stop by Murphysboro on the next drive quickly set up the Red Devils to deliver the knockout blow.

Columbia drove down into the Red Devils end of the field but faced a fourth-and-13 at the 22.

However a screen pass from Voegele to freshman back Keegan Thompson resulted in a no-gain and turnover on downs.

A five-yard run by Finke set up Clemons for another spectacular scoring burst.

Clemons went up the middle again, churned through what would have been a tackle, and then broke free for daylight.

He sprinted the remaining yards on the 73-yard score.

Although the PAT kick failed, the Red Devils were now up 41-21 with only 7:45 remaining.

Columbia took the ball down the field on its next possession but the second turnover of the game proved costly.

The Eagles went 60-yards on its next drive and were at first-and-goal at the Red Devils' eight.

However a bad hand-off exchange put the ball on the ground where Wells recovered it for a Murphysboro possession with 6:07 left.

Murphy ran time off of the clock on its next drive before punting back to Columbia.

The Eagles final drive of their season finished off their 2022 scoring on a 66-yard, eight-play drive, all in the air.

Voegele found Weik for a 15-yard score to close the scoring for the contest.

The Red Devils drove down the field on its next drive, with Clemons adding runs of 13 and 12 yards before the winner's took a knee and ran out the clock.

“All and all I'm proud of our kids. The kids played really hard. We didn't execute at times but when you play a team like that they're the reason you aren't executing,” said Coach Horner. “They're playing defense the way they are supposed to play it and are coached to.”