Coming off of a massive homecoming victory over the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, the Skyhawks (3-3) travel to Macomb in Western Illinois to face the Leathernecks (2-3) in a big conference matchup on Oct. 12.
The third team in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) standings, the Leathernecks are coming off of back-to-back wins for the first time since 2018 and their first games won since 2021.
The Leathernecks are in their first year of OVC play after spending most of their history in the Missouri Valley Conference. They currently find themselves at 1-0 in the conference with a win over Charleston Southern this past week.
The Leathernecks are led by senior QB Nathan Lamb who transferred from College of the Sequoias, a community college in California. Lamb, a first-year starter, has been a threat with both his arms and legs throughout the season with five touchdowns through the air and four touchdowns on the ground. Lamb has steadily improved as the season has gone on with completion percentages above 73 in his past two games, both of which the Leathernecks have won.
On the ground, Western Illinois is led by senior RB Cameren Smith another player acquired via transfer, this time from the Division II Missouri S&T Miners. The former linebacker out of Delaware leads the Leathernecks with 446 yards and three touchdowns on 91 carries. Smith is almost exclusively a runner for the Leathernecks with a mere nine receptions and 43 yards in the passing game.
Leading receiver Elijah Aragon joins QB Nathan Lamb as another transfer out of community college in California, this time coming from Ventura College. The sophomore Aragon currently leads the Leathernecks with 273 yards and three touchdowns on 22 catches. His three receiving touchdowns are currently fifth in the OVC, ranking just behind Martin’s own Trevonte Rucker with four.
However, Aragon isn’t the only receiving threat Western Illinois has. Aragon is one of three receivers for the Leathernecks with over 200 yards this season. He is joined by juniors Matthew Henry and Demari Davis with 241 and 213 yards respectively. All three players are a threat to make the defense pay on any given night.
Defensively the Leathernecks have been subpar, to say the least. Western Illinois has seen its fair share of opposing touchdowns already this season with all three of their losses being blowouts. Key players for the Leathernecks on defense include junior LB Ryan Crandall with 42 total tackles, senior LB Mike Newman with 33 total tackles and junior DB Tyler Henry with 22 total tackles and four passes defensed.
Offensively, the Leathernecks run the option and try to spread the ball out as much as possible with RPO action. However, they are not opposed to using a double move or a trick play to get a big gain at a crucial point. The Skyhawks should take advantage of the spread offense as much as possible against the Leathernecks. The spread offense works well to get quick gains and run the ball but can be very easy to shut down if the Skyhawk defense can flow to the ball and tackle consistently.
Defensively, the Leathernecks have a problem with speed. Several times this season the Leatherneck defensive backs have allowed players to run past them and score easy points, because of the lack of athleticism and the lack of help on the back end. The Skyhawks should try to sprinkle in some streak and post routes to go with their daily dose of running the ball. A lot of the game rides on graduate QB Kinkead Dent to get the ball to his receivers when/if they get open deep.
A win against the Leathernecks would move the Skyhawks up one spot in the OVC standings with the potential to move up three spots depending on the outcomes of other games.
Historically, the Skyhawks and Leathernecks have only met twice, splitting the series with their first meeting in 2003. That year the Leathernecks laid a beat down on the Skyhawks 56-0. However, the Skyhawks seem to hold a grudge because when the teams played again 19 years later the Skyhawks returned the favor with a 42-25 blowout of their own.
The Skyhawks will look to break that tie this year as they get one extra workday before their fall break and bye week.
