Standing tall: QU defense’s unwillingness to budge results in season-opening victory

QUINCY — How the play impacted the scoreboard wasn’t of utmost concern.

Certainly, the Quincy University football team’s defense didn’t want to allow a touchdown or wipe away the shutout it was pitching. But the Hawks knew making a goal-line stand at the start of the second quarter of Saturday’s home opener against Lincoln would reverberate.

“It’s not just about the points because I figure our offense will bail us out either way,” defensive lineman Jaylin Vaughn said. “It’s huge that we make the stop for our momentum.”

For as good as the Hawks have been defensively the past couple of seasons, their bugaboo has been stopping teams in the red zone. Last season, Quincy ranked first in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in total defense but last in red zone defense, allowing opponents to score 94.4 percent of the time.

“We’re trying to make a point,” Vaughn said. “We’re going to finish the job.”

That they did. Lincoln opened the second quarter with first and goal from the 3-yard line, only to be stymied on three consecutive run plays. The Blue Tigers chose to kick a field goal, but an offsides penalty on the Hawks made them reconsider.

On fourth and goal from the 1-yard line, Quincy stood up Lincoln quarterback Isaiah Tate for no gain, forcing a turnover on downs. A 99-yard touchdown drive followed as the Hawks rolled to a 46-5 victory at sun-swept QU Stadium.

“Applying pressure is the big thing we talked about with everybody,” QU first-year head coach Jason Killday said. “Just keep applying pressure.”

It’s what the defense did.

“To continue to put it on and put it, that’s such a huge thing for us,” senior safety Joseph Webb said. “Coach Killday talks about applying pressure. It’s not just one phase. It’s all three phases We have to apply pressure the entire game.”

That began with Lincoln’s first play. Tate mishandled a bad snap and the ball ended up on the turf, bouncing into the end zone and ultimately out of bounds for a safety and a 2-0 lead for Quincy just 2 minutes, 13 seconds into the game. 

“That gives us energy to roll through the rest of the game like that,” Webb said. “If you can start off a game like that — start fast, finish fast — you’re in for a hell of a game.”

It fed into the Hawks’ desire to control the tempo.

Because Lincoln entered the game with a new head coach, a revamped roster and no film for the QU defense to dissect, there were no tendencies for the Hawks to prepare for. It meant more reading and reacting, which worked well.

The Blue Tigers managed just 113 yards of total offense and nine first downs. They rushed for just 1.6 yards per carry, completed just 7 of 19 passes and were 5 of 15 on third down. They didn’t reach the red zone again after the goal-line stand.

“On the defensive side, it was understanding we dictate what the offense can do,” Webb said. “If we don’t want them to run, they’re not going to run. If we don’t want them to pass, they’re not going to pass. We have to stay true to that and remember we determine what the offense can do.”

This time, that was very little.

“Everybody knew their assignments and everybody knew the adjustments,” Vaughn said. “We just kind of went from there. I was really impressed with everybody on their effort and just knowing what they were supposed to do.”