Lennon leads Salukis past former school

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Larry Warner ran for 256 yards and two touchdowns Saturday as Southern Illinois and head coach Dale Lennon beat the Fighting Sioux 40-21.

Lennon left North Dakota this season to become head coach at Southern Illinois. His new defense did a number on his former team’s offense, holding the Sioux to just 20 yards rushing.

Warner scored on runs of 75 and 10 yards in the fourth quarter for the Salukis (6-2).

Southern Illinois, which led 27-7 heading into the fourth quarter, ran for 323 of its 482 yards of total offense.

Salukis quarterback Chris Dieker threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Kernes and scored on a 1-yard run as the Salukis raced out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter. Dieker was 15-for-21 for 159 yards.

North Dakota (5-3), which finished with 330 yards of offense, got as close as 27-14 on an 8-yard TD reception by Ismael Bamba with 13:15 to play.

But the Salukis came right back, scoring on the next play on Warner’s 75-yard dash.

Tags: southern illinois, football, und, sioux, lennon