Two league schools have their Homecoming games on Saturday, Oct. 11. Southern Illinois hosts Illinois State in Carbondale, while UNI entertains Indiana State. Western Illinois opened its Gateway season last weekend with a 33-28 Homecoming win against Western Kentucky. Winning Ways Entering games for Oct. 11, all eight teams in the Gateway are .500 or better. The Gateway is the only I-AA conference to have [...]

This week’s Gateway players of the week are QB Joel Sambursky of Southern Illinois; DB Travis Washington of Western Illinois; P Brian Claybourn of Western Kentucky; and OL Will Sanders of Youngstown State. Offensive QB Joel Sambursky, Southern Illinois So., 6-0, 195, Liberty (Mo.) High Although he only threw for 173 yards (while completing 12-of-20 passes with zero interceptions), Sambursky led the Salukis to their [...]

The Gateway’s 2002 co-champions and playoff participants had a classic battle in front of 18,263 fans with No. 2-ranked Western Illinois scoring 26-unanswered points to beat defending national champs and No. 5-ranked Western Kentucky, 33-28. Meanwhile, Southern Illinois moved to 5-0 for the first time in 12 years with a 37-14 win at Indiana State. Youngstown State handed SMS a 34-7 defeat, and No. 15 [...]

For the second-straight week, four Gateway teams dot the I-AA Top 25, as Western Illinois (2), Western Kentucky (6), Southern Illinois (11), and UNI (16) represent the conference this week in the Sports Network/CSTV poll. Additionally, all eight Gateway members are receiving mention for the second-straight week, making this the latest in a season where all eight members were receiving votes or ranked in the [...]

The Gateway Conference went 5-2 in its final non-conference regular-season weekend of the year, giving the Gateway a 25-10 record against non-league foes in 2003. Eight of the 10 losses came at the hands of I-A schools. UNI’s 43-10 thrashing of No. 11 Northwestern State highlighted Saturday’s action, while Southern Illinois remained perfect at 4-0. UNI 43, No. 11 Northwestern State 10 The University of [...]

Illinois State joined the list of three previously ranked Gateway teams as the Redbirds climbed into the Top 25 this week after beating No. 18 Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill., on Saturday. The Redbirds are No. 23 this week. Western Illinois remained at No. 2; Western Kentucky is No. 3; and Southern Illinois (idle last week) jumped to No. 13. It marks the 29th time [...]

Tags: gateway team, top ten

Western Illinois University senior linebacker Lee Russell (Blue Grass, Iowa) was part of a Leatherneck defense that held No. 11-ranked LSU at bay for three quarters Saturday, helping him land both the Gateway Football Conference and Sports Network National I-AA Defensive Player of the Week awards.

Western Illinois’ valliant effort against No. 11 LSU (a 35-7 loss) translated into a one-spot drop (from No. 1 to No. 2) in this week’s Sports Network/CSTV Top-25 poll. Western Kentucky moved up a notch to No. 3 — giving the Gateway Conference two of the top three teams in the poll. Southern Illinois, meanwhile, jumped four spots from No. 21 to No. 17, as [...]

Three Gateway games will hit the airwaves this week, including a nationally televised game Saturday, Sept. 20. The UNI-Stephen F. Austin game on Thursday, Sept. 18, will be on Fox Sports Net (6:30 pm CDT) with Kevin Eschenfelder and Gary Reasons in the booth. On Saturday afternoon (1:30 pm CDT), Illinois State plays at Eastern Illinois on Fox Sports Net with Bob Ramsey, Richard Baldinger [...]

This week’s Gateway Players of the Week are WR Dwayne Smith of Illinois State, safety Alexis Moreland of Southern Illinois, RS James Norris of Western Illinois, and Fred Freitag of Indiana State. Offensive WR Dwayne Smith, Illinois State 6-3, 194, Sr., Rantoul (Ill.) High Weighed by the death of his grandmother earlier in the week, senior wide receiver Dwayne Smith also carried the anticipation of [...]