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CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois (11-1) scored ten first half points off of Eastern Illinois (8-4) turnovers as the Salukis advanced to the second round of the NCAA FCS playoffs with a 30-11 win.

 

SIU will host Massachusetts next Saturday while the season comes to an end for Eastern Illinois.

 

SIU took advantage of the games first turnover as the Salukis forced an Ademola Adeniji fumble on the Panthers first offensive play.  Nick Hill responded on the next SIU play hitting Alan Turner for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

 

Hill would later cap a long SIU drive in the first quarter as he hit Ryan Kernes for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 2:59 left.  Southern Illinois led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

 

Kyle Dougherty added a pair of field goals for Southern Illinois in the second quarter as the Salukis extended their half time lead to 20-0. Dougherty hit from 18 yards out with 1:55 left.  He would also hit from 21 yards as time ran out.  SIU regained the ball following an EIU turnover at midfield.

 

Eastern Illinois used the turnover to its advantage in the second half as the Panthers forced a Saluki turnover inside SIU's own 20 yard line.  Tyler Wilke would make a 42-yard field goal with 2:35 left in the third to make it 20-3 SIU.

 

The Panthers attempted an onside kick after scoring the Wilke field goal.  SIU took advantage of the short field and drove 46-yards for a Hill 4-yard touchdown run to go up 27-3 to open the fourth quarter.

 

Bodie Reeder gives EIU first touchdown with 7:30 left in the game as he hits Jordan Campanella for a 7-yard touchdown.  Panthers convert on two-point conversion as Reeder hits Trent Steckel to trail 27-11.

 

Dougherty added his third field goal of the game with 2:24 left in the contest from 26 yards.

 

SIU won the battle on the stat sheet with 402 yards of total offense compared with only 175 yards for the Panthers.  Hill was 24-for-30 for 234 yards.

 

EIU was led on the ground by Adeniji with 76 yards.  Donald Thomas ended his EIU career making 15 tackles in the loss.