Salukis make annual trek to Du Quoin for an evening of football and fun

DU QUOIN, Ill. — Football and family fun were on the agenda Friday night when Saluki Football made its annual visit to Du Quoin High School for its first live scrimmage of the spring season.

Under the direction of head coach and Du Quoin legend Nick Hill, the Salukis took the field at 5:30 and spent the next two hours conducting drills and mixing in live series.

“It’s kind of my one selfish thing that we're gonna do during spring ball,” Hill smiled. “It’s always fun for me to come back and re-live standing on this field.  It reminds you of a Friday night game. There's nothing like small communities in Southern Illinois supporting local sports, and it’s fun for the guys, because the community loves their Salukis and welcomes us with open arms.”

Shortly after 6 p.m., Hill interrupted practice and invited dozens of kids onto the field to practice with the team. Both the kids and the players were grinning ear-to-ear.

Gage Green watches kids take the field.

“I used to do this as a kid, come over here and watch the Salukis play football,” said SIU wide receiver and Du Quoin native Gage Green. “Seeing all the kids come out tonight brought back a lot of cool memories.”

College teams are permitted 15 practices during the spring, and only three of them can include live tackling. Friday marked Southern’s ninth practice and was the team’s first live work, which consisted of about 60 plays.

“We only scored a touchdown on one drive, but the main thing we wanted was to give opportunities to tackle and block at the line of scrimmage,” Hill said. “We put quite a few runs in there just to see some specific people make tackles and see some of the fundamental things that we’ve been working on the first eight practices.”

In addition to scripted plays, the team worked on situations, such as two-minute drill and goal-line. All-American quarterback DJ Williams did not participate in the live scrimmaging.

QB Jake Curry

“With DJ (Williams) not taking any team reps all spring, there's been a lot of reps to go around for the rest of the quarterbacks, and they need them,” Hill said. “We’re working with some new receivers, and the quarterbacks did a good job executing the offense in a scrimmage situation — getting people lined up and running the operation.”

The offense scored a touchdown on a 54-yard pass from ET Harris to Traivon Dyson, and produced several big runs by senior tailback Jimmy Athans and true freshman Jayden McCaster.

“We have a tremendous backfield,” said sophomore QB Jake Curry, who took reps with the first team. “Tonight, you saw Jimmy and Jayden step up, but I’m confident in all our running backs. Our O-line room is just unbelievable, too. Those guys work their butts off. We have some new receivers, and it’s going to take time to develop, for sure, but by the time summer is done, it'll look real good for the fall.”

Highlights on defense included an interception by redshirt freshman safety Clayton Lakatos, plus forced fumbles by senior safety Vinny Pierre Jr. and junior cornerback Naz Hill.

S Vinny Pierre Jr.

“We always preach turnovers,” Pierre Jr. said. “No matter how we get them, stripping a ball up, getting a pick, maybe a big hit — any way we can affect the game and get more possessions for the offense we gotta do.”

Afterward, fans joined the team on the field for pictures and autographs.

“It’s so cool to have a Division I team come to Du Quoin to practice on our field,” said Du Quoin native Keith Furlow. “I’m a big Nick Hill fan and I like all the players, especially DJ Williams. These are some big, ole boys, and I think we’re going to have great team this year.”

Coming Sunday: Detailed scrimmage analysis for paid subscribers.