The postseason run at Murphysboro has been an uphill climb for the Red Devils, with just two appearances in the last 10 years, and both of those came in 2014 and 2015.
Thanks to a 60-15 win over Harrisburg Friday night at "Doc" Bencini Field, Murphysboro is playoff eligible once again.
The Red Devils are now 5-2 on the season and head coach Gary Carter said the recipe for success came from his kids buying into what he was selling.
"Qualifying for the playoffs was the goal coming into the season," Carter said. "It's something that we talked about at our team camp. Winning the conference was one of our goals and we still don't know what's going to happen with that, but I'm just really happy for our kids. They put a lot of time in the weight room, they worked their tails off and this senior group bought into what I was selling. Anytime they do that, they are fun to coach. I love those kids because they are going to do what you ask them to do. Not every group does that. This group does."
Murphysboro jumped out to a quick start, scoring five touchdowns in the first two quarters to take a 33-0 lead.
Red Devils junior running back Jake Hoppenstedt scored three of those scores, finding paydirt from 1, 34 and 41 yards out. Dezmond Clark tacked on a 37-yard score in the first quarter and countered with a 1-yard run with 5:01 to play in the first half.
Harrisburg's Dylan Morris put the Bulldogs on the board right before halftime, hooking up with quarterback Isaac Crabb on a 42-yard reception with 2:07 to play.
Murphysboro eventually got the running clock in the third quarter after an 80-yard TD run by Devin Eovaldi and a three-yard run by Zane Caraway. Aiden McNitt added a five-yard run with 3:25 to play in the third.
Harrisburg's only other score came compliments of Jordan Dalton from two yards out with 10:31 to play in the fourth and Clark had the Red Devils' final score of the game, punching one in from 49 yards out.
Murphysboro finished with 520 yards rushing as Clark led the way with 157 yards on eight carries. Hoppenstedt tacked on 102 yards on six carries.
"Offensively, I felt like we did what we wanted to do," Carter said. "Defensively, I felt like we did pretty good when our first group was in. I know Harrisburg is down a little bit, but they kept fighting. Our kids did a good job and even those that don't get a lot of reps in practice, I thought they came in and played well too."
Crabb threw for 119 yards on 7-of-19 passing Friday, while the Bulldog rushing attack accounted for 89 yards on 28 carries. Dalton led the way with 53 yards on 11 carries.
The loss eliminated Harrisburg from the postseason and marks the third straight season the Bulldogs will not make the playoffs.
Harrisburg head coach Gabe Angelly said that injuries have plagued his team all season. More occurred Friday night and it was something his club couldn't recover from.
"We just made mistakes on both sides of the football that we have to clean up," Angelly said. "One of our best tacklers Grayson Osman went down with an injury in the first half and he really is the heartbeat of that defense, so when he went down that was a tough hit and we lost both Kody and Kyle Cavender for the year with injuries, those are guys that are our best tacklers and when that happens, you're going to have guys in there that are doing their best, but we have to go back to the drawing board and hopefully those guys get a little better as the week goes on and we can finish with a couple of wins."
Harrisburg closes out the year with a pair of home games, hosting Herrin Friday and closing out the season at Taylor Field against Carbondale. Murphysboro will travel to Benton Friday and will end the regular season at home against Du Quoin.
Spyder Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
1ST QUARTER
M -- Hoppenstedt 1 run (kick failed), 8:59
M -- Clark 37 run (run failed), 1:18
2ND QIUARTER
M -- Hoppenstedt 34 run (Hoem kick), 11:41
M -- Hoppenstedt 41 run (run failed), 8:47
M -- Clark 1 run (Caraway run), 5:01
H -- Morris 42 pass from Crabb (Cowsert kick), 2:07
3RD QUARTER
M -- Eovaldi 80 run (Hoem kick), 11:38
M -- Caraway 3 run (kick failed), 10:59
M -- McNitt 5 run (Hoem kick), 3:25
4TH QUARTER
H -- Dalton 2 run (Dalton run), 10:31
M -- Clark 49 run (Hoem kick), 7:22
H M
1st downs 7 16
Rushing 28-89 42-520
Passing 7-19-0--119 1-5-0--8
Fumbles 2-1 2-1
Penalties 5-40 6-50
RUSHING: Harrisburg -- Dalton 11-53, Wallace 10-38, Crabb 3-(-7), Holland 1-(-2), Giscombe 2-3, Barton 1-4. Murphysboro -- Hoppenstedt 6-102, Clark 8-157, Caraway 7-68, McNitt 12-74, Eovaldi 3-97, Kirkwood 2-12, O'Brien 4-10.
PASSING: Harrisburg -- Crabb 7-19-0--119. Murphysboro -- Finke 1-5-0--8.
RECEIVING: Harrisburg -- Gibbs 2-8, Holland 1-2, Wallace 1-31, Morris 2-71, Phalin 1-7. Murphysboro -- Hoppenstedt 1-8.
