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For Immediate Release
Oct. 10, 2009
Westminster Spoils Eureka's Homecoming with 35-34 win
EUREKA, Ill. – Eureka College senior quarterback Nick Lindsey (Homer, Ill./Heritage H.S.) finished the day with a season-high 308 passing yards and four touchdowns, but a late Eureka rally fell just short in a 35-34 homecoming loss to UMAC South Division foe Westminster, Saturday afternoon at McKinzie Field.
Trailing 35-28 at their own 20-yard line with 4:28 to go, Lindsey and the Red Devils put together an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Lindsey to senior wideout Sam Hendricks (Danvers, Ill./University H.S.) with 1:52 remaining. The touchdown drew Eureka within a point at 35-34, but the ensuing snap on the extra point was bobbled, forcing the extra point attempt from freshman kicker Travis Huber (Morton, Ill./Morton H.S.) to fall short.
Huber’s ensuing onside kick try was unsuccessful, giving Westminster possession at the Eureka 45-yard line with a one point lead and 1:52 remaining. The Red Devils used all three of their timeouts after three run plays from Westminster netted only six yards. Daniel Eidson’s punt travelled 14 yards to the Eureka 25-yard line, giving the Red Devils 91 seconds to attempt a game-winning scoring drive with no timeouts.
After back-to-back of incompletions, Lindsey scrambled for six yards to bring up fourth-and-four at the 31-yard line, but Westminster defensive lineman Rodney Lyles tripped up Lindsey behind the line of scrimmage on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs and end Eureka’s comeback bid.
Eureka jumped in front with a touchdown drive on the first possession of the game. Lindsey connected with sophomore wide receiver Wes Schmidgall (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) for a 34-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone for the drive. Six plays later on first-and-goal, Lindsey rolled out to his right and found sophomore tight end Alex Hess (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) in the corner of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
The Blue Jays responded quickly with an eight-play, 58-yard touchdown drive in just 2-minutes, 35-seconds. Eidson completed his first of three touchdown passes on the day with a 27-yard lob to Carl Givens midway through the first quarter. Givens added a 10-yard touchdown catch later in the quarter to give Westminster a 14-7 lead.
Facing a seven-point deficit with time winding down in the first half, Lindsey ran for 28 yards on four carries and added a 24-yard strike to Hendricks during a nine-play drive ended by a 7-yard touchdown run from senior running back Chris Wakid (Danvers, Ill./Eureka H.S.). The two teams went into halftime tied at 14-14.
The third quarter featured five touchdowns, starting with a 2-yard plunge from Westminster running back Jerry Ford on the Blue Jays’ first possession of the half. Eureka needed only one play from scrimmage to respond after Eureka sophomore defensive back Mike Minehan (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) ran the ensuing kickoff back to the Westminster 31-yard line. A Westminster personal foul bumped the Red Devils up to the 16-yard line, allowing Lindsey to find Schmidgall with a 16-yard toss to the end zone to tie the game.
Westminster bounced back with a 6-yard touchdown run from Eidson for a 28-21 lead. After Red Devils and Blue Jays traded three punts, Eidson found Greg Finger for a 30-yard touchdown strike to stretch Westminster’s advantage to two scores at 35-21. The Red Devils responded with their second one-play scoring drive of the game when Lindsey found Schmidgall for a 46-yard touchdown catch. Schmidgall made an outstanding run after making the catch across the middle of the field.
Prior to Eureka’s final scoring drive, Westminster had a chance to stretch its lead to two possessions, but junior kicker Jake Hilton missed an 18-yard field goal attempt after the Eureka made stops on back-to-back run plays inside the 3-yard line.
In addition to his 308 passing yards, Lindsey ran for 133 yards on 28 attempts, the most yards on the ground for him since racking up 173 rushing yards in a 28-8 win over Concordia on Sept. 13, 2008. Schmidgall eclipsed the 100-receiving yard mark for the fourth time this season with 117 yards on five catches. Hendricks set new career-highs with five catches and 64 receiving yards.
Defensively, junior defensive back Rosney Beverly (Los Angeles, Calif./Normal West H.S.) made a team-best 5.5 tackles and broke up a pair of passes in the secondary. Sophomore linebacker Doug Butler (Saybrook, Ill./Ridgeview H.S.) also broke up two passes and senior linebacker Luke Whitaker (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) recorded two tackles for loss.
Eidson, who entered the game as last week’s UMAC South Division Offensive Player of the Week, completed 20-of-39 passes to six different receivers for 256 yards and three scores. Givens made a game-high eight catches for 117 yards.
The Red Devils will play the third and final game of their current three-game homestand one week from today when former SLIAC member LaGrange visits McKinzie Field at noon.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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