ISU Bengal

Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Sports

# 32 Ken Cornist Running Back has teammate # 17 Russel Hill Quarterbacks back long enough so he could complete a pass.

Homecoming week ended with a bang as Idaho State's football team beat Northern Colorado 26-14 on the newly dedicated Caccia Field. The field was dedicated to the legendary coach, Babe Caccia, who led ISU to two undefeated seasons in the 1950's. ISU's team truly held the spirit of Caccia as they executed one of the best offensive games of the season.
Caccia celebrated his 90th birthday on Wednesday, October 3rd, and holds Idaho State's all-time leader in coaching wins with 79. His career football record, 80-38-2, from 1952 to 1965, includes unbeaten seasons in 1952 and 1957 and the Big Sky Conference championship in the leagues first year of existence in 1963.
Russel Hill, who helped the Bengals to their first win, started this game after serving as a back up to Luke Butler. Butler experienced a hard hit on the last play last game and was diagnosed with a concussion. Hill had eight interceptions in the first three games, but no picks were snagged, He threw 20-29 for the day including three touchdown passes. Hill's 874 passing yards earned him the fifth most in ISU freshman history.
Two of those touchdowns went to Eddie Thompson who caught a total of 10 passes and 137 yards. Thompson now tallies 46 catches for 519 yards in just five games.
The Bengals pulled out three secret weapons on their running game to total 211 running yards. Leading the bunch was Josh Barnett with 25 carries for a total of 106 yards. Clint Knickrehm averaged 16 yards on four carries and racked up 64 yards for the Bengal team. Ken Cornist totaled 18 yards.
Ryan Phipps led the Bengals on the defensive side with 12 tackles including an amazing sack, the only one for ISU.
The game started with a 69 yard punt to NCU by Dan Zeidman. After a small drive, NCU punted the ball; and ISU started their drive at the 30-yard line. The Bengals marched down the field and Branden Jones kicked the ball between the goal posts from the 26 yard line for the game's first three points. With three seconds left in the first quarter Russel Hill connected with Eddie Thompson for a 36-yard touchdown. The second quarter was fairly uneventful and the Bengals led the first half 10-0.
The second half started with NCU kicking off to ISU. Ken Cornist was able to drive the ball 10 yards to ISU's 33 yard line. Another strong drive gave Jones the chance to score another three points, this time from the 29 yard line.
The fourth quarter started with a strong drive to set Thompson up for his second touchdown pass from Hill. A good kick attempt from Jones gave ISU a 20-point lead over NCU. The next set of downs by NCU ended with a touchdown from Ryan Chesla and their first score of the game. ISU answered back with another touchdown. This time Hill connected with Isaiah Burel with a three-yard pass. The Bengals led the game 26-7. Northern Colorado scored one last time with three minutes left in the game. NCU's David Woods rushed 14 yards into ISU's end zone.
The game ended with ISU's first conference win and NCU's 14th consecutive loss. The Bengals now stand 2-3 for the season and 1-2 in league play. The Bengals now hit the road to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in Flagstaff.

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