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The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
Indiana State shuts off Beacons by score of 39-16
- Story byThe Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
- Indiana State shuts off Beacons by score of 39-16
Indiana State shut off the Valparaiso Beacons 39-16 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium thanks to multiple contributions offensively, especially by Aaron Ball and Keshon Singleton .
ISU's offense got out to a hot start with Ball breaking through the Beacon defense for a first down after a 20-yard carry. But the Sycamores couldn't find the end zone and had to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Sebastian Lopez .
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The Beacons tied the score on their next offensive possession, but the Sycamores took the lead back when they got a safety with a Beacon holding penalty and backed Valparaiso into the end zone. It was the first safety for ISU since it played North Dakota back in 2021.
In the second quarter, the Sycamores benefited from a breakout play from Manny Ellis, who caught the football from quarterback Elijah Owens and went 63 yards to put the Sycamores in the red zone. Lopez connected on a field goal and ISU assumed an 8-3 lead.
With the weird start, Mallory said the thing they wanted to be able to do was score touchdowns.
"When we get down in the red zone, we need to score touchdowns," Mallory said.
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The first touchdown came when Owens lofted a pass over the Valpo defense to true freshman Jaylen Johnson for a 19-yarder, the first TD of his collegiate career.
"Jaylen made a nice play there and I thought it was a really good throw because Elijah made that throw, put it right on the money," Mallory said. "It was a great play by the quarterback and it was a great catch by J.J."
Ball found the end zone later when he raced 59 yards to help pad ISU's cushion to 22-3.
Soon after that, Owens went down with a wrist injury and met two team doctors in the tent, which put Louisville transfer Brady Allen in at QB. The team later put Owens' helmet away, which meant he was done for the game. Mallory did not have an update on Owens afterward.
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However, Mallory did say he thought Allen did some really good things and made the most of a tough situation.
"He's got a great pocket presence," Mallory pointed out. "He has a really strong arm, but he did some really good things and I was really glad to see him do some positive things."
The second half started but was delayed shortly after the start as a lightning bolt struck north of the stadium. The two sides came back on the field to warm up with play to start four minutes later, but another nearby bolt forced another 30-minute delay. After more than an hour of delays, the game got going again at 4:18.
ISU redshirt linebacker Alex Rose said he and his teammates didn't want a repeat of last season to happen when they faced North Dakota State's Bison, who came out hot after a storm delay.
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Mallory said winners adjust and that there wasn't a lot to be said outside of some adjustments the team wanted to make.
Valpo intercepted an Allen pass in the end zone shortly after the restart. But the Sycamores redeemed themselves after that as Ball rushed 58 yards to paydirt to make it 29-3 just 25 seconds into the second half.
The Beacons got their first touchdown of the game on an 11-yard pass from Rowan Keefe to Chris Gundy 3:27 into the third quarter to pull within 29-10. The home team opened its next drive with a 42-yard run by Ellis to put it just outside the red zone.
But the Sycamores got one back as Allen connected with Singleton for a 16-yard scoring play. Lopez made it 39-10 with a 46-yard field goal 1:38 into the fourth quarter.
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The Beacons produced a 34-yard Noah Ehrlich-to-Daniel White passing TD late in the contest to finalize the scoring.
For the game, Ball finished with 182 yards rushing on a mere 11 carries.
Valparaiso 3 0 7 6 — 16
Indiana State 5 17 14 3 — 39
ISU — FG Lopez 36, 11:23 1st
V — FG Scoma 30, 5:31 1st
ISU — Safety, Valparaiso holding penalty in end zone, 2:52 1st
ISU — FG Lopez 28, 11:54 2nd
ISU — Johnson 19 pass from Owens (Lopez kick), 5:45 2nd
ISU — Ball 59 run (Lopez kick), 3:56 2nd
ISU — Ball 58 run (Lopez kick), 10:35 3rd
V — Gundy 11 pass from Keefe (Scoma kick), 7:01 3rd
ISU — Singleton 16 pass from Allen (Lopez kick), 4:06 3rd
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ISU — FG Lopez 46, 13:22 4th
V — White 34 pass from Ehrlich (kick failed), 5:17 4th
A — 3,497. T — 4:40.
Valpo ISU
First downs 12 23
Total net yards 225 568
Rushes-yards 24-7 42-313
Passing yards 218 255
Comp-Att-Int 24-38-1 19-33-1
Return yards 47 29
Punts 10-38.5 4-35.8
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-48 4-45
Time of possession 30:06 29:54
Individual statisticsRushing — Valpo, Ashton Allen 4-19, Russell Tye 4-7, Cedric Benning III 3-1, Kline 0-0. ISU, Ball 11-182, Owens 12-66, Ellis 8-52, Max McCool 8-17.
Passing — Valpo, Keefe 21-30-0, 162, Noah Ehrlich 3-8-1, 56. ISU, Owens 7-15-0, 115, Allen 10-15-1, 98.
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Receiving — Valpo, Chris Gundy 5-34, Marty O'Keeffe 4-56, Isaac Tran 4-22, Devin Yeats 3-23. ISU, Singleton 3-37, B.J. Wuest 3-34, Johnson 2-27.
Next — ISU (2-2) hosts North Dakota at 1 p.m. next Saturday, while Valpo (1-2) hosts Butler that same day.
