Lester goes for career-high 139 yards rushing in Southern Illinois’ 63-0 rout of Western Illinois

Bruce Kropp

Oct 29, 2023 | 8:35 AM

MACOMB, Ill. (AP) — Lashaun Lester had a career-high 139 yards rushing, including a 64-yard touchdown burst on his first touch of the game, and Southern Illinois routed Western Illinois 63-0 on Saturday.

The Salukis (6-2, 3-2 Missouri Valley Conference) led 14-0 after one quarter and 35-0 at halftime. They punted only once in the first half but lost two fumbles by quarterback Nic Baker.

Baker made up for his mistakes with three touchdown passes in the first half. He was 11 of 26 passing for 186 yards before giving way to Hunter Simmons in the second half. Simmons was 6-of-10 passing for 60 yards and threw his first career TD pass, 17 yards to Allen Middleton in the third quarter.

Izaiah Hartrup had four catches for 96 yards and was one of four SIU receivers with a touchdown catch.

Safety Desman Hearns had a 43-yard scoop and score in the fourth quarter.

The Leathernecks (0-8, 0-5) had only 48 yards passing and their leading rusher was Ludovick Choquette, who had 49 yards. They finished with 152 total yards, compared to 474 for the Salukis.