DU QUOIN -- The Du Quoin Indians finally got challenged, and possibly even a little worried in the closing minutes, on the football field Friday night.
They still won, and they're the SIRR Mississippi Division conference champions.
Du Quoin amassed a 34-7 lead less than a minute into the third quarter and held off previously unbeaten Nashville, 41-35, to remain undefeated.
Coach Derek Beard's squad improved to 8-0 and survived a furious rally from the Hornets, who scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, all on passing touchdowns.
"We made a lot of big plays early, especially from our defense, and we made them turn the ball over," Beard said. "That's a good football team over there. We made a lot of big plays early, and they made some big ones late."
The biggest play of the game came from Du Quoin senior Ethan Zettler, who had already done a ton of damage before the final two minutes of the contest. Zettler scored three touchdowns and intercepted two Cole Malawy passes on defense, but his crucial 28-yard run with about 90 seconds left sealed a conference crown for the Indians.
Malawy and the Hornets were tearing up the Du Quoin secondary in the fourth quarter. If the Hornets had recovered their onside kick late, they quite possibly could have won the game.
Nashville didn't get the ball on the kick, and Zettler gave Du Quoin a much-needed first down.
"I'm not going to lie, my mind went blank, and there was intruding fear of fourth down, having to punt, and they get the ball back," Zettler said. "Over and over, that was running through my head. But after I got that first down, I knew that we were rallying together again and that we had it."
Zettler, one of Du Quoin's fastest players, picked a great time to have a killer game. After quarterback Alex Zimmerman threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kadin Mays, who fought a defender for the ball on an impressive catch, Zettler caught a short pass and streaked 80 yards for a score.
The Indians held a 14-0 advantage near the end of the first quarter. Zettler intercepted his first pass earlier in the game. Jullian Metcalf rushed for a touchdown to pull Nashville within 14-7, and Du Quoin fumbled away the following kickoff to the Hornets.
Not to worry. Zettler picked off another pass on Nashville's possession. Zimmerman threw touchdown passes to Wade Roberson and Jacob Green to help Du Quoin grab a 27-7 lead at halftime. Dasani Edward intercepted a Nashville pass in the second quarter, as well.
Zimmerman threw four touchdown passes in the first half and finished with 210 yards through the air. This championship was special for the All South baseball standout, in his first season as the Indians quarterback.
"Just being able to mix it up with the run and pass in this game was huge," Zimmerman said. "We got the run established early and then we threw in some play actions, which helped us get the lead. This was an awesome feeling, and our town came out and supported us, and it really was like having a 12th man out there. It's been a few years since we've done this, so it was good to get Du Quoin back on top of the conference."
Zettler finished with 151 rushing yards and 85 receiving yards to go along with two picks and three scores.
"He's a great kid, and you can count on him to be there every single day," Beard said. "He puts the work in, and it doesn't matter if it's during the season or out of season. He does everything you ask him to do."
The Indians have blown out pretty much everyone they've played, and this game looked like it was going the same way, albeit against a much tougher opponent than anyone from the first seven weeks. But Nashville wasn't about to lay down, and Du Quoin wasn't about to lose the conference crown on its own field.
"This is a great feeling, and all of the credit goes to these kids," Beard said. "I thank a lot of the guys on our coaching staff."
Malawy threw a pair of scoring passes to Isaac Turner and one to Gavin Baldwin in the fourth quarter. But the Indians built too big of a lead to overcome.
DHS will host 6-2 Murphysboro on Senior Night at 7 p.m. this Friday. Murphysboro cruised past previously unbeaten Benton this past Friday, 41-0, and claimed the Ohio Division title within the River-to-River Conference,
