For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

November 11, 2006

Maroons stain Maroon & Gold Senior Day

The beginning of the end was a euphoric one for the Eureka College football team as Cody Troutman (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community) returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. The visiting University of Chicago Maroons (4-5), however, took advantage of five Red Devil fumbles and eventually the game 44-12.

Leading 6-0 after the extra point kick was blocked, EC missed a golden opportunity to extend its lead early in the first quarter. Eureka sophomore safety Tim Dombrowski (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) forced a fumble by Mike Serio on Chicago's first offensive play to give EC the ball in Maroon territory.

Seven consecutive running plays moved the ball to as close as the 10 yard line, but Chicago's Frank Chor intercepted a pass in the end zone. The Red Devils benefitted from an illegal block the occurred outside the end zone and after the interception that resulted in the Maroons taking over inside their one as opposed to the 20. After an incomplete pass, Chicago fumbled the snap. Several players had chances to recover before Serio fell on it inside the one. This would be the trend all afternoon as Chicago fell on six of the eight fumbles in the game.

Troutman, who will likely move into the top 10 in punt return average after this week, gave EC great field position at the Chicago 23 following a 20-yard return. Again the Red Devils could not punch the ball in as Jon Carr and John Emerson recorded sacks on back-to-back plays and Eureka turned the ball over on downs.

Chicago went on to score 17 unanswered points going into halftime. Matt Rinklin scored on an 11-yard run late in the first quarter to end a drive of 91 yards ahead of Chuck Little's two-yard plunge. Ryan Verissimo booted both extra points in addition to a 24-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half for a 17-6 lead at intermission.

I'm proud of the way we started the game," said Eureka head coach Dan Sullivan. "Fumbles costed us 21 points, but our defense played well after the turnovers. We were beat up coming into the game, but some other players picked up their game, which was good to see."

Rinklin added his second rushing touchdown and the first of two TD passes to Mike Albian as Chicago's lead expanded to 31-6 in the third quarter. The Red Devils cut into the lead late in the quarter set up by another nice kickoff return. Zach McDade (Savoy, Ill./Arcola) fielded the kick and handed off to Troutman for a combined 43 yards. Freshman quarterback Nick Lindsey (Homer, Ill./Heritage) and senior wide receiver Chris Carr (El Paso, Ill./HS) took over from there. The two connected on three pass plays, all for first downs. On fourth-and-three Lindsey scrambled the width of the field and nearly threaded a pass to Carr in the end zone, but Chicago was flagged for pass interference giving EC a first down. Lindsey pushed his way in from the two for his fifth rushing touchdown of the season. The two-point conversion failed leaving Chicago ahead 31-12.

The Maroons snatched the ensuing onside kick on the first play of the fourth quarter and added two more scores before the final gun. Little ran in from three yards out and Albian ended the scoring with a 30-yard reception from Rinklin with 9:56 to play.

Lindsey went 10-17 passing for 111 yards. Carr caught five passes for 50 yards. Damon Mehlberg (Bloomington, Ill./HS) led EC in rushing with 43 yards in his final game at EC. Also playing his final game, Luke Hermes (Heyworth, Ill./Central Catholic) led the Red Devils defense with eight tackles. Freshman defensive end Luke Whitaker (Eureka, Ill./HS) collected two tackles for loss.

"I know for a fact, if you look at the game scores from a year ago to this year, we are a better team right now," said Sullivan. "It's important for the kids to work very hard academically and in the weight room for next season."

Rinklin gained 187 yards on 14-27 passing and 70 yards on 11 carries. Albian secured nine passes for 159 yards receiving. Serio gained 80 yards on 13 rushes. Emerson recorded four of Chicago's six sacks.

Eureka senior football players Chris Carr, Luke Hermes, Shaun Manning (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest), Damon Mehlberg, Lavar Morris (Peoria, Ill./Manual), and Dave O'Donal (Metamora, Ill./HS) and athletic trainer Kim Holdenrid were recognized before the game.

The Red Devils finished the year 0-10. Team awards will be announced at the E-Tribe fall banquet on November 19 at Noon in the Terrill Rooms of the Cerf Center.

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For More Information Contact:

Brian Sullivan

Sports Information Director

Eureka College

300 E. College Avenue

Eureka, Illinois 61530

309-467-6456

bsullivan@eureka.edu