Benedictine Pulls Away From Eureka on Homecoming, 58-10

EUREKA – After a tight first quarter, Benedictine pulled away from Eureka for a 58-10 win on the Red Devils' homecoming on Saturday.

The Red Devils held Benedictine scoreless for the entire first quarter, and a 27-yard field goal by Steven Bartkus (Seneca, Ill./Seneca) gave the home team a 3-0 lead heading into the second frame.

The Eagles' offense got going with 27 points in the second quarter to take a 27-3 lead into halftime. The visitors put the maroon and gold away with 28 points in the third quarter.

Quarterback Lukas Tinkham (Abingdon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon) recorded a 44-yard touchdown pass to Caelan Webb (Urbana, Ill./Urbana) on a deep throw over the middle that went through a defender and into the receiver's hands early in the fourth quarter. It was Webb's first career touchdown and Tinkham's first of the season.

Leetrez Smith (Palatka, Fla./Palatka) was the Red Devils' leading rusher on the day, finishing with 66 yards on seven attempts. Peyton Doughty (Cincinnati, Ohio/Newton) added 30 rushing yards on eight attempts.

Benedictine quarterback Tyler Jarnagin threw for 351 yards and six touchdowns and had one interception. Running back Gregory Hoard tallied 95 rushing yards and scored once on 10 attempts.

Defensively, Brendan Durr (Washington, Ill./Washington) notched a team-high eight tackles, while Austin Hopkins (Arcola, Ill./Arcola) followed with six and Kavion Nichols (Winter Haven, Fla./Apopka) and Ben Wright (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) each had four. Wright also contributed a sack.

Eureka (1-3, 1-1 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference) will look to rebound next Saturday when the Red Devils face Concordia Chicago (1-3, 0-2 NACC).