For Immediate Release
eureka, illinois
September 27, 2008
EC offense heats up despite loss in 1st SLIAC game
Boxscore
Eureka College's first ever St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game turned into a shootout Saturday afternoon, with the homestanding Westminster College Blue Jays pulling out a 42-25 victory. The two new conference rivals, who were meeting for the first time ever, combined for 40 first downs and 914 yards of offense.
The Red Devils (1-2, 0-1 SLIAC) offense piled up a considerable 215 yards on the ground and mounted four scoring drives of eight plays or more, but were done in by Westminster (1-2, 1-0 SLIAC) quarterback Daniel Eidson's five touchdown, 298 yard aerial assault.
It was the other junior signal caller, Eureka's Chris Dalberg (Washington, Ill./HS), who was making his first career start in a Red Devils uniform, that got of to a hot start in the opening stanza. Dalberg was 6-for-8 in the opening quarter for 76 yards as EC played Westminster to a 7-7 draw. He was a perfect 4-for-4 on Eureka's first drive of the game, eventually connecting with Brad Polanin (Metamora, Ill./HS) for a 34 yard touchdown pass with 6:27 left in the period.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils, that drive was only served as an answer to Eidson's first scoring strike of the game, which had come just over four minutes earlier from 11 yards out to Tyson Kankolenski.
The Blue Jays had their chances to take the lead before the end of the quarter, but were twice denied in Eureka territory. Tony Martin (Lexington, Ill./HS) turned in the key play for Eureka, intercepting a pass in the Red Devils' 25.
Both sides moved the ball at will, but Eureka's attack was handcuffed by three turnovers in a fateful second quarter. The Red Devils fumbled the ball away at the Westminster 24, then tossed an interception on a second-and-goal play at the Blue Jays' eight. Less than one minute after the interception, Eidson hit Carl Givens for a 78 yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-7.
Again the Red Devils responded on their next drive, this time punching the ball into the end zone at the end of a eight play, 72 yard march. Dalberg completed three passes of at least 14 yards on the drive, including his final attempt, a 16 yard strike to Joe White (Manito, Ill./Concordia). The point after try was blocked to keep Westminster in front 14-13.
That would be the closest EC would get to catching up the rest of the day. Westminster jumped ahead 28-13 at the halftime break by crossing the goaline twice in the final three minutes as Givens and Kankolenski each caught their second touchdown pass of the game late in the half. When the dust had finally settled on the first 30 minutes of action, the two quarterbacks, Dalberg and Eidson, had combined for an amazing 28-for-36 passing for 380 yards and six touchdowns.
The Red Devils featured their running game as they took the second half kickoff and reached the end zone eight plays later. Josiah Rosenberger (Morton, Ill./HS) ran for 28 yards and Dalberg scrambled for a 35 yard gain setting up Chris Wakid's (Danvers, Ill./Eureka) three yard touchdown plunge. The extra point was blocked making the score 28-19.
The Blue Jays gained momentum right back on their next possession thanks to the arm of Eidson. He completed five passes including his fifth touchdown pass of the day from nine yards out. His effort led to a 35-19 Westminster lead with 5:55 left in the third quarter.
There was still time for Eureka to circle the wagons for a last ditch comeback effort, and the Red Devils' got their chance when Tyler Schnarr (Ipava, Ill./V.I.T.) picked off an Eidson aerial giving EC the ball on the Westminster 19. However, Eureka turned the ball over on downs four plays later. Then the EC fortunes were worsened with a 63 yard Eidson rush that set up a Chris Baker two yard rumble putting Westminster on top 42-19 just before the third quarter ended.
The Red Devils defense went on to hold Westminster to 34 yards and no points in the final quarter, while the EC offense punched in one more touchdown. Dalberg found White for the second time on the day on fourth-and-goal from the eight to make the score 42-25 with 3:53 to play. The other key play on the drive was a nine yard pick up on fourth down by Zach McDade (Savoy, Ill./Arcola).
Dalberg finished 22-for-32 with three touchdowns for Eureka. Rosenberger rushed for a career high 106 yards, averaging 7.6 yards on 14 carries. Wakid had 56 yards rushing and caught a team high six passes for 25 yards. Dan Askew (Farmer City, Ill./Blue Ridge) was another main target, hauling in five passes for 46 yards. Matt Knake (Freeburg, Ill./HS) led the EC defense with nine tackles. Matt Tieman (Champaign, Ill./St. Thomas More) was next with six.
Eidson totaled 298 yards through the air and 95 more on the ground. Kankolenski had seven receptions for 107 yards to lead the Blue Jays attack.
The Red Devils will continue league play next Saturday, Oct. 4 at the travel to Carlinville to face Blackburn College for a 1:00 pm kickoff.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bmoore@eureka.edu
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