Weston Schofield’s walk-off field goal lifts Salukis past Northern Iowa, 20-17
CARBONDALE, Ill. — With three seconds left, the game’s outcome came down to a freshman kicker’s 31-yard field goal attempt, and Weston Schofield split the uprights for Southern Illinois.
Schofield’s clutch kick gave the Salukis (4-5, 2-3) a 20-17 walk-off win over Northern Iowa, and his teammates celebrated by carrying him off the field above their heads.
The Jefferson City, Missouri native was 7-for-7 on field goal attempts this season, but none carried the pressure of today’s game-winner.
“I thought it felt pretty good coming off my foot,” Schofield said. “Then I look up and I can see it got tipped and kind of had a weird rotation. But it was straight, and three is three.”
SIU quarterback DJ Williams did everything in his power to put the team in position for the win, rushing for 89 yards and two touchdowns, but like everyone else, he left the fate of the game in the kicker’s hands, or more appropriately, his right foot.
“I believed in that kid all the way,” Williams said. “Weston's a warrior, man, a young freshman that was ready for the moment.”
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Southern and came against a quality opponent in the No. 21-ranked Panthers (3-4, 2-2), who have a pair of Top 5 wins to their credit.
“It's been a tough three weeks for everybody,” head coach Nick Hill acknowledged. “It wasn't always pretty in the second half, but this was a gutsy performance.”
The winning field goal was the product of a methodical and determined two-minute drive that started on SIU’s 35. Northern Iowa had just converted a 4th-and-goal touchdown pass from Jaxon Dailey to Xavier Terrell on a play that was initially ruled out of bounds. Replay review confirmed the score and the game was tied, 17-17.
Southern marched 52 yards in nine plays to finally position the ball at the UNI 13. All but two of the yards on the drive came on the ground.
“In times when they think you're going to throw the football, you can crease them on some runs,” Hill explained.
Williams had runs of 11, 6 and 3 yards on the winning drive, but it was Quade Chatmon who delivered two critical runs of 12 and 15 yards, the latter in which he kept pushing the pile forward until the ball rested at the UNI 19.
“I found a hole, I got what I could get, and then my linemen carried me the rest of the way,” Chatmon said. “I just had to keeping my feet running.”
Northern Iowa used up its last two timeouts, as Southern worked the clock and field position to set the table for Schofield.
“We were trying to keep the ball where he wanted it on the field,” Hill said. “The last run put it in the middle for him.”
And what was going through Hill’s mind on the game’s final play?
“In my head, I was saying, ‘snap’s good, hold’s good,’ and then Weston made it,” Hill beamed. “That’s a big-time kick that all of us will remember.”
After carrying Schofield off the field, the team stopped to sing the school fight song on the home sideline.
"No matter what happened before, no matter how anybody was feeling, this team needed to win, and today we went out and got it," Williams said.
“I’ve never won a walk-off like that before, so that was just awesome,” said linebacker Andrew Behm, who led the team with 12 tackles. “I’m just super-happy for the whole team and super-proud of everybody. We've just kept working, just keep enjoying being around each other.”
Northern Iowa controlled the ball for much of the game, owning a 39-21 advantage in time of possession, a 76-55 edge in total plays and a 355-303 advantage in total yards, but Southern’s defense made a living in the Panther backfield with 11 tackles for loss and three sacks. Defensive end Ibrahim Sanogo had 4.5 TFLs and a sack.
“We have a really good defense that’s disruptive and makes it tough on people,” Hill declared.
Southern has played nine-straight weeks and gets to enjoy a week off next Saturday.
“We have a good football team and we’re going into a bye-week to rest-up, get some work done and get preparation done for Indiana State,” Hill said.
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