|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
For Immediate Release
Nov. 7, 2009
Crown Wins Shootout Against Eureka, 69-63
EUREKA, Ill. – In a game that featured more than 1,400 yards of total offense and lasted nearly four hours, Crown junior quarterback Adam Hayes delivered a 31-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Robert Yang with 13.3 seconds remaining to break a 63-63 tie, giving the visiting Purple Storm a 69-63 win over Eureka College, Saturday afternoon at McKinzie Field. The loss ends Eureka’s season with a 4-6 record.
Eureka forced a 63-63 tie with 1:17 remaining in the fourth quarter when senior quarterback Nick Lindsey (Homer, Ill./Heritage H.S.) scored on a quarterback sneak from just outside the goal line. Crown started its ensuing possession at its own 19-yard line with 1:08 remaining. The Storm put together a six-play, 81-yard drive in just 54 seconds that was capped by the strike from Hayes to Yang. The visitors gained at least 12 yards on four different plays during the hurry-up drive, including a 16-yard run from Hayes to convert on third down early in the series.
The Red Devils had 7.7 seconds to cover 53 yards in its comeback effort, but a 7-yard completion from Lindsey to sophomore Wes Schmidgall (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) and a Sam Durley (Roanoke, Ill./Roanoke-Benson H.S.) incompletion intended for Schmidgall near the end zone as time expired ended Eureka’s comeback bid.
The two teams combined to score 132 points, breaking the all-time Eureka record of 107 set two weeks ago in a 63-44 win over MacMurray. The Eureka offense finished the game with 744 yards of total offense, the highest total by the Red Devils on record in a single game.
Schmidgall set career-highs for the second time in three weeks with 11 catches for 230 yards and four touchdowns. Lindsey ran for 150 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. He also threw for a season-high 336 yards and three scores. Durley added 169 passing yards and found Schmidgall for a 52-yard touchdown throw early in the second quarter. Playing in his final collegiate game, senior running back Chris Wakid (Danvers, Ill./Eureka H.S.) ran for a season-high 83 yards, his best effort since running for 137 yards against MacMurray on Oct. 25, 2008. Junior wide receiver Keifer McComas (Allerton, Ill./Heritage H.S.) set a new career-high with 95 receiving yards on five receptions.
Lindsey scored his first of four rushing touchdowns to open the scoring and give Eureka a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. A passing touchdown from Hayes to Steve Boger and an 11-yard touchdown run from Hayes sandwiched a career-long 43-yard field goal from Eureka freshman kicker Travis Huber (Morton, Ill./Morton H.S.) to give Crown a 14-10 lead after the first quarter. The Red Devils scored 17 unanswered points on touchdowns from Schmidgall and Lindsey and another field goal from Huber to open the second quarter and race to a 27-14 lead, but Crown scored three touchdowns in the final 7:05 of the half to regain the momentum. Schmidgall caught his second touchdown pass of the day with 1:23 remaining before intermission, but Crown held a two-point halftime lead.
The first half featured nine touchdowns and a pair of field goals from Huber. His successful 43-yard try is the longest on record at Eureka, breaking Huber’s previous career-best of 41 yards set earlier this season at Wisconsin-Stout. Neither team punted during the first 30 minutes and Crown carried a 35-33 lead into intermission.
Eureka and Crown traded touchdowns and the lead on the first two possession of the second half before Huber converted his third field goal try of the game for a 42-42 tie with 5:22 left in the third quarter. Huber finished the game 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and finished his freshman season a perfect 6-for-6 on field goal tries.
With the score tied at 42-42 late in the third quarter, the Eureka defense forced Crown to punt for the first time. The Red Devils needed just three plays on their ensuing possession to regain the lead when Lindsey found Schmidgall with a 30-yard strike for a 49-42 lead. The Storm answered with a nine-play drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown plunge from Tyler Hallblade to tie the game again at 49-49.
Eureka was poised to regain the lead on its first drive of the fourth quarter, but a pass from Lindsey was intercepted by Conrad Dewey at the Crown 13-yard line, ending Eureka’s bid to regain the lead. The interception was Eureka’s only turnover of the day and marked the only time in Eureka’s nine trips to the red zone the Red Devils did not come away with points.
The Storm put together its longest drive of the game on the ensuing possession, driving 87 yards on 14 plays in 6-minutes, 4-seconds to take a 56-49 lead on another 3-yard touchdown run from Hallblade with 7:45 remaining. Schmidgall pulled down his fourth and final touchdown catch of the day just six plays later on an 11-yard toss from Lindsey for a 56-56 tie. Hallblade and Lindsey traded rushing touchdowns late in regulation before the Storm put together its game-winning drive in the final minute.
Hayes finished the day with 416 passing yards and four touchdowns. Three Crown receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark, led by Boger’s 131 yards on nine catches. Hallblade led all players with 184 rushing yards on 28 carries.
Defensively, Eureka freshman linebacker Seth Zehr (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) recorded game-highs with 10.5 tackles and eight solo stops. Junior cornerback Rosney Beverly (Los Angeles, Calif./Normal West H.S.) made 9.5 tackles and also recorded one of Eureka’s two pass breakups on the day. Junior defensive lineman Tyler Schnarr (Ipava, Ill./V.I.T. H.S.) contributed with Eureka’s only solo sack of the day when he threw Hayes for an 11-yard loss early in the fourth quarter.
In all, the game lasted 3-hours, 39-minutes and featured 10 lead changes and five ties. Eureka set a new UMAC-high for the season with 744 yards of total offense. Lindsey and Durley combined for 505 passing yards, also a UMAC-best in 2009. Crown’s 69 points were the highest total by a UMAC team this season, besting MacMurray’s 68-point effort in a 68-62 win over Crown last Friday at Dome Day.
###
For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
|
|---|
|
|---|
