McLean County Times

The Illinois State football team held its first intrasquad scrimmage of the fall on Saturday morning at Hancock Stadium. The event marked the first of two scheduled scrimmages, with the annual Red-White Scrimmage set for next Saturday at 11 a.m. as part of Welcome Week.

During the scrimmage, players participated in a variety of game situations including full-field drives, red zone plays, and two-minute drills. Nearly 150 plays were run as athletes from all three team units aimed to secure their spots for the upcoming season opener in Oklahoma.

The scoring began with Matt Maldonado converting a 22-yard field goal after a nine-play drive. Freshman running back Tyler Lofton followed with a four-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse connected with transfer wide receiver Kaevion Mack for a five-yard touchdown pass on the next possession.

Transfer running back Victor Dawson scored from one yard out during a goal line scenario, while Cal Martine added another six points with a 15-yard touchdown run after a six-play drive. In the red zone session, Seth Glatz scored from two yards out for the first-team offense. Martine recorded his second touchdown with a six-yard run, and Lofton followed up by scoring again on a 12-yard rush.

Rittenhouse later completed 6-of-7 passes for 43 yards on one drive and finished it off with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Rylan Crawford. Lofton broke free for his second score of the day with a 35-yard touchdown run.

Quarterback Beckham Pellant found Max Ziebarth for an 11-yard touchdown and then connected again with Mack on a 15-yard scoring play. True freshman quarterback Chase Kwiatkowski ended the day’s scoring by running it in himself from 15 yards out.

Passing leaders included Rittenhouse (18-for-25, 158 yards, two touchdowns) and Pellant (16-for-25, 145 yards, one touchdown). On the ground, Lofton led all rushers with 13 carries for 108 yards and three touchdowns; Martine had 64 yards and two scores; Glatz added one touchdown; Wenkers Wright rushed for 55 yards; and Dawson contributed another score.

Top receivers were Eddie Kasper (five catches), Dylan Lord (82 receiving yards), Mack (two touchdowns), Crawford (one touchdown), and Ziebarth (one touchdown).

Defensively, Tye Niekamp posted ten tackles and two tackles-for-loss; Mason Kaplan had nine tackles including one sack; Ben Harman made seven tackles and recorded two sacks; Shadwel Nkuba II tallied three pass breakups; Dexter Niekamp grabbed an interception; Jordan Coleman notched five tackles plus one tackle-for-loss; Wyatt Boals had five tackles; Reese Edwards also had five stops; and La'Shavion Brown collected four tackles along with one sack.

The Redbirds will return to practice Monday morning at Hancock Stadium as they continue preparations for their season opener. Fans can find updates about Illinois State football through official social media channels or by visiting GoRedbirds.com or using the Illinois State Redbirds App for tickets, news, photos, merchandise information, and more at https://goredbirds.com/.