For Immediate Release
elsah, illinois
October 18, 2008
26-point 4th quarter cushions Red devils' win in coach's Debut
Boxscore
Eureka College piled up 699 yards of offense and picked off three Principia College passes to give EC interim head coach Matthew Smiley a 47-19 victory in his debut.
"I'm really proud of our assistant (Neil Linhart, Josh Johnson and Brad Garrett) and student coaches (Tommy Butler, Mike Johnson, Raul Mendoza and Chris Winter)," said Smiley after the game. "The players did what they were told, but the coaches had twice as much to do to make sure there were no concerns. They all did an outstanding job this week."
The Red Devils (3-3, 2-2 SLIAC) sported a balanced attack on the day, with 336 yards rushing and 363 yards passing as they scored the most points in a game this decade. It had been 86 games since Eureka last scored at least 47 points in a contest, which came in the final game of the 1999 season in a 53-20 blowout of Concordia Chicago.
The three big plays for Eureka in the early going came on defense. Principia (0-7, 0-4 SLIAC) took the opening kickoff and drove to the EC 17 before Jody Davis (Pontiac, Ill./HS) and Matt Cooper (Clinton, Ill./HS) dropped Panther quarterback Tyler Marunde behind the line of scrimmage forcing a turnover on downs. Kevin Vedell (Eureka, Ill./HS) then ended Principia's next possession with his first career interception.
After turning the ball over on downs twice in Principia territory to begin the contest, Eureka had poor field position, taking over for the third time with 7:15 left in the first quarter. That changed quickly, however, thanks to a 54-yard scamper by Brandon Ards (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips). It would turn out to be only his second longest gain of the day. Meanwhile, Chris Wakid (Danvers, Ill./HS) crashed into the end zone three plays later from a yard out setting up EC with a 7-0 lead.
Principia again drove deep into Eureka ground only to be turned away on fourth down on the five yard line. The Red Devils were stopped for no gain and a loss of three yards backing them up to their own two on their first drive of the second quarter. On third-and-13, EC quarterback Nick Lindsey (Homer, Ill./Heritage) connected on a 98-yard touchdown bomb to Cody Troutman (Normal, Ill./HS). The junior receiver out-fought the defender for the jump ball and sprinted the rest of the way down the sideline, lifting Eureka to a 14-0 edge with 12:47 left in the half.
Principia forced turnovers on Eureka's next two possessions, but both time the Panthers' ensuring drive stalled in the EC side of midfield. But the Red Devils' luck changed after Nick Lindsey's punt was blocked setting up the Panthers on the Eureka 23. Marunde, who passed for 263 yards and rushed for 88 more to account of all but five yards that Principia gained on the day, slipped outside the Red Devils pass rush for a 17-yard touchdown run. The extra point was missed wide, keeping EC in front 14-6.
Dan Askew (Farmer City, Ill./Blue Ridge), who was five-for-six on extra points, put plenty of toe on a 33 yard field goal just before intermission, but it missed wide right, keeping Principia within 14-6 at halftime.
Having passed for 136 yards in the second quarter alone, Lindsey was not about to let the break cool him off. He picked apart the Panther defense to the tune of 224 yards and three touchdown passes in the second half to lead the Red Devils back to the .500 mark.
Another long connection from Lindsey to Troutman, this one for 59 yards on a similar looking play, set up a touchdown on the opening EC march of the third quarter. Once again, it was Wakid doing the honors on the ground, finding paydirt from nine yards out to stake the Red Devils to a 21-6 advantage.
It looked like Eureka was going to run away with the game in the third quarter when the Red Devils chewed up 59 yards all the way to the Principia one yard line, but the Panthers denied EC three times inside the three yard line and took over on their own two after the stand.
Principia then put together an impressive 14 play, 98 yard touchdown march that took 6:54 off the clock. The Panthers ran seven plays from inside the Eureka 10 thanks to a pass interference penalty giving new life to the drive. Finally, Marunde forced a six-yard pass to Justin Breaux in the corner of the end zone, but the extra point was missed and Eureka still led by two scores at 21-12 with 1:06 left in the third.
The Red Devils offense answered the Principia comeback attempt with a dominant fourth quarter. Eureka ran roughshod through the defense to the tune of 120 yards rushing, 134 yards passing and a 26-7 advantage where it counts the most — on the scoreboard.
"We did some different things in practice and some different guys saw action in the first half," said Smiley. "We had a lot of emotion, but the they found their legs in the second half so they were able to do what we knew they could do."
Joe White (Manito, Ill./Concordia) was targeted twice in critical junctures on the first drive of the final stanza. Lindsey tossed a 16 yard pass to White to convert a fourth-and-four, then fired a 24-yard aerial to White to convert on third-and-11. The Red Devils were fantastic on third down in the game, converting six out of 11 chances. On the next play, Lindsey hit Ards in the flat for a seven yard scoring strike as Eureka ran out to a 27-12 lead.
Ards and Eureka's downfield blockers would do most of the work the next time Lindsey looked in the freshman running back's direction. A perfectly timed screen pass fell into Ards' hands, who weaved his way 75 yards to the end zone for a 34-12 Eureka lead with 6:56 remaining.
Interceptions would set up two more scores late in game allowing EC to pour it on the Panthers. Tony Martin's (Lexington, Ill./HS) 15-yard interception return gave Eureka great field position, which led to an eight yard TD pass from Lindsey to White. John Johnson (Plainfield, Ill./Naperville Central) picked off a pass three plays later leading to a four yard Josiah Rosenberger (Morton, Ill./HS) touchdown rush that padded the Eureka lead to 47-12.
Lindsey set a career-high with 363 passing yards in the game, completing 17 of 27 passes to four receivers. Troutman caught four passes for 167 yards, while White and Askew each had five catches for 72 and 45 yards respectively. Ards led all players with 120 yards rushing. He also hauled in three passes for 79 yards. Wakid had 80 yards and Rosenberger added 69 yards for the EC ground attack.
The Eureka defense racked up eight sacks and 18 tackles for loss. Tim Dombrowski (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) and Matt Knake (Freeburg, Ill./HS) led the charge with nine tackles, one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss apiece.
"Our defensive line made him (Principia QB Marunde) scramble because of the rush," added Smiley. "We had good coverage on the sacks. When he did throw, they could intercept it and if he didn't, it was a sack.
The Red Devils will next host long time rival MacMurray College for the annual Homecoming game at Eureka next Saturday, October 25 at 1:00 pm.
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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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