Red Devils March Over Concordia, 44-14
RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The most successful regular-season stretch in program history continued Saturday in the Eureka College football team's 44-14 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference victory at Concordia (Ill.) in River Forest, Ill. Le'Anthony Reasnover (Momence, Ill./Momence H.S.) rushed for 201 yards and equaled his own single-game NACC record with five touchdowns, Drew Barth (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest H.S.) threw for 173 yards and the defense pitched a second-half shutout in the Red Devils' 14th consecutive regular-season victory.
Reasnover finished the day with 1,052 season rushing yards to become the first player in program history with three separate seasons of at least 1,000 rushing yards. He also increased his career point total to 486, passing six players Saturday to move into seventh place on the all-time NCAA Division III scoring list. With 99 more rushing yards, Reasnover can become the 29th player in Division III history to rush for 5,000 career yards.
Barth produced another efficient day, going 13-for-17 for 173 yards and a second-quarter touchdown throw to Caleb Fauver (Catlin, Ill./Salt Fork H.S.). Barth also ran 10 times for 42 yards, part of the Red Devils' 346-yard day on the ground as a team.
Dom Parks (East Moline, Ill./United Township H.S.) led the receiving corps with four grabs for 55 yards, including a big second-quarter reception that extended an EC scoring drive.
The Eureka defense didn't allow a point over the final 32 minutes and limited the Cougars to just 264 yards for the afternoon. Mason Diederich (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.), Jon Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods H.S./St. Francis) and Macae Skaggs (Farmington, Ill./Farmington H.S.) shared the team lead with five total tackles apiece, while Diederich added a solo sack and a team-best 2.0 tackles for loss.
Colton Fauver (Catlin, Ill./Salt Fork H.S.) registered a fourth-quarter interception, his fourth interception of the season and his ninth career interception to tie Cody Troutman (2006-09) for fourth place on the Red Devils' career list since 2000.
Saturday's win was Eureka's 24th all-time over Concordia, the Red Devils' most victories over any opponent in program history. The 30-point win was also Eureka's first over the Cougars at Concordia Stadium since a 22-7 victory on Sept. 25, 2004.
Eureka controlled Saturday's contest from start to finish, yielding 16 yards on the day's opening drive before forcing a punt and scoring 10 plays later on Reasnover's 12-yard score for a 7-0 lead. Moments later, a failed CUC field goal try set the stage for Reasnover, who burst 82 yards for his second touchdown of the first quarter and a 14-0 EC lead at the 6:11 mark of the opening period.
Caleb Fauver's 12-yard touchdown catch pushed Eureka's lead to 21-7 just two plays into the second quarter. Reasnover followed with a 13-yard touchdown run midway through the quarter to give the Red Devils a 28-7 advantage. Tanner Kuhne (Princeton, Ill./Princeton H.S.) ultimately pushed through a 27-yard field goal as time in the first half expired – his second of the season and sixth of his career – to allow the visitors to take a 31-14 lead into the locker room.
The Red Devils produced points on all five of their first-half possessions. The first four series resulted in touchdowns and was poised for a fifth before the waning clock forced Kuhne's successful field goal try.
Eureka's 12-play, 68-yard drive to open the second half didn't produce points, but the EC defense responded with a 3-and-out to deliver a short field and a second chance to the offensive unit. The Red Devils answered the bell with a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Reasnover and the lead was 38-14 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.
Reasnover scored the final touchdown of the day with 6:46 to play, a 3-yard run that allowed Eureka to finish a 15-yard drive that chewed nearly four more minutes off the clock.
At a perfect 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the NACC, Eureka will return home next Saturday for a 1 p.m. league kickoff versus Benedictine at McKinzie Field. The Eagles won their previous trip to Woodford County, a 42-7 final on Sept. 4, 2010.
NOTABLES: Eureka leads the all-time series with the Cougars, 24-15 ... Eureka overwhelmed CUC in the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for 40:52 and running 78 offensive plays compared the Cougars' 47 ... The Red Devils logged 30 first downs for the first time in nearly six years (Oct. 20, 2012 at Greenville) ... Kuhne averaged 46.0 yards on two punts and was a perfect 5-for-5 on point-after attempts.
