DeKALB | Ken West is a man who plays through the whistle, and Saturday was no exception when the defensive end gave the NIU football team a huge lift on the very first play from the line of scrimmage.

Indiana State quarterback Reilly Murphy locked in on running back Tony West. A swing pass was in the works. Murphy’s short throw fell to the ground and Indiana State seemed to be headed for a second down.

Just then, Ken West picked up the bounding ball and headed for the end zone.

The officials looked at each other, paused for a split-second as if mentally verifying that they hadn’t blown their whistles, and in unison threw both hands in the air to signal touchdown.

It was an 11-yard score for a 6-0 lead — or was it?

The play went to the replay official, and eventually referee Raymond Vaughn returned to announce to a hushed crowd that the ruling on the field stood.

“All my teammates grabbed me and threw me down,” West said. “We celebrated, so I thought that they would let it stand.”

If you finished up your tailgating and entered the stadium a mere 34 seconds late, you missed the first defensive touchdown for NIU since 2004.

The importance of NIU being staked to an early lead was not lost on Indiana State coach Lou West.

“That was a good job by NIU being heads-up,” West said. “Those types of first plays get to you right off the bat.”

For Ken West, it was the first time the senior has sniffed the end zone since roaming the gridiron at Thornwood High School.

In the postgame press conference, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound West said the last time he scored a touchdown was as a running back in high school.

NIU coach Joe Novak promptly said that West “probably knew” when and where he scored because West keeps “a note pad under his pads.”

James Nokes is a Sports Reporter for the Northern Star.