RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Indiana State's Shahir Bell Runs for Whopping 349 Yards In 27-10 Victory Over Drake

Drake's football team fell, 27-10, to No. 22 Indiana State in its final non-conference test of the season Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.
Ty Patton

The Sycamores’ vaunted rushing offense proved to be the difference, rushing  for 368 yards with Payton Award finalist Shakir Bell racking up a school-record 349. The Bulldogs were paced again by senior quarterback Mike Piatkowski’s (Wheaton, Ill.) with 329 yards on 31-of-53 passing with a touchdown strike to Nick Rosa (Owasso, Okla).

Drake's defense, which came into the game leading the nation in sacks and tackles for loss, was led by Bob Quilico’s (Schaumburg, Ill.) 11 tackles with the defense getting six tackles for loss and an interception from Drew Ormseth (Lake in the Hills, Ill).

“That back [Indiana State’s Bell], is special and we knew it,” Drake coach Chris Creighton said. “Those guys played hard and are a great football team. We’re all about being our best and part of being your best is knowing how to win on game-day. We go into the Pioneer Football League now and we’ve got to find a way to do that.”

The two teams entered halftime knotted at 10-10, but ISU firmly put the momentum in its favor in the third quarter by scoring quickly on its first two possessions with touchdown runs of 60 and 48 yards from Bell. Those touchdowns put the Sycamores up, 24-10, less than 5 minutes into the second half.

However, the Bulldogs continued to battle and got inside the ISU 5-yard line on its next two drives. Unfortunately for Drake, neither of those red zone trips resulted in points, but rather a missed field goal and an inspired ISU goal-line stand. A 35-yard ISU field goal with less than 4 minutes to play gave the Sycamores the final 17-point cushion.

“We didn’t execute and when you’re playing a really good team, you’ve got to execute,” Creighton said. “We left a lot out there offensively with opportunities to score. Whenever we executed, we moved the ball down the field.”

Drake executed early by scoring on its first drive courtesy of a 21-yard field goal from Spencer Lee (Johnston) that capped an 11-play, 76 yard drive. The Bulldogs held that advantage until midway through the second quarter when ISU got on the board with 22-yard touchdown pass from Mike Perish to Demory Lawshe.

Drake answered that score with one of its own on its next drive as a 41-yard pitch and catch from Piatkowski to Gary Scott, Jr. (Forsyth, Ill.), put the Bulldogs inside the ISU 10-yard line to set up a 7-yard Piatkowski to Rosa touchdown.

An ISU field goal as time expired at the half sent the teams into the locker room tied.

Drake, coming off of back-to-back games against nationally ranked opponents, returns home next weekend to begin the defense of its 2011 Pioneer Football League championships. The Bulldogs host Morehead State on Saturday, at 1 p.m. inside Drake Stadium.

Last season, Drake defeated MSU, 41-26, on the road after holding a slim 16-13 margin at halftime.

[This story was written for Ron Maly by Ty Patton, Drake's assistant athletic director for athletic communications].