Posted: Sep 29, 2017
Preview: Eureka Set For Iowa Wesleyan Under the Lights
MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa -- Following its first home victory of the 2017 season, the Eureka College football team will take its third Upper Midwest Athletic Conference road trip of the campaign Saturday at 6 p.m. against Iowa Wesleyan at Bob Evans Field in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
PDF Version of Eureka Football Game Notes
ABOUT EUREKA
The Red Devils are an even 2-2 overall an 2-1 against UMAC opponents to share third place in the early-season conference standings. Eureka is in search of its third straight victory after cruising to lopsided wins over Minnesota Morris (48-20) on Sept. 16 and Crown (44-20) last weekend at McKinzie Field.
Eureka will look to continue to thrive on an excellent rushing attack. The Red Devils will bring Division III's 18th-ranked ground game to Mount Pleasant with 266.3 yards per game. They'll be matched up with an Iowa Wesleyan defense that yields 275.5 rushing yards per game.
In all, the Red Devils have produced 397 yards or more in all four games this season, including a 479-yard outburst at Minnesota Morris on Sept. 16. The 442.8 yards per game ranks second in the UMAC and 53rd nationally.
Eureka returns 19 starters from last season's 8-2 team that competed for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship on the final day of the regular season. Six All-UMAC honorees return from 2016 -- three on offense and three on defense.
In all, more than 40 letterwinners are back from last season's team. More than 40 newcomers will join the program in 2017 to give the Red Devils' their largest football roster of the Kurt Barth coaching era.
RED DEVILS CONTROL CROWN
Eureka outgained its UMAC opponent by more than 125 yards for the third consecutive outing and held possession for more than 38 minutes in a 44-20 UMAC rout of Crown last Saturday afternoon at McKinzie Field.
The Red Devils forced a Crown three-and-out to begin the game and following with a seven-play, 57-yard scoring drive. LeAnthony Reasnover scored on a 2-yard run for a 7-0 lead at the 9:26 mark of the first quarter. Crown briefly pulled even later in the period when Taylor Watkins found David McIntosh with a 51-yard touchdown strike along the sideline with 3:40 left in the first quarter.
The 7-7 deadlock was short-lived. Reasnover scored on a 9-yard rush on the fourth play of the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. The Red Devils doubled their lead on the next series when Rhett Rondinelli beat the Crown coverage and hauled in Nick Holman's 57-yard touchdown throw for a 21-7 lead.
Holman found Rondinelli again early in the third quarter, allowing the Eureka freshman to burst down the sideline untouched for a 58-yard score and a 28-7 lead. Reasnover delivered his third touchdown rush of the game later in the third quarter, breaking free on a 21-yard touchdown and a 35-7 lead.
Nasir Phillips provided Eureka's final score of the day, a 4-yard rush for a 44-7 advantage with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter. Crown scored a pair of touchdowns in the final quarter to set the final 44-20 score.
REASNOVER REACHES 2,500
Junior running back LeAnthony Reasnover rushed 24 times for 131 yards last Saturday to increase his career yardage total to 2,547. He is just the fourth 2,500-yard rusher in the modern era of EC football and the first since Greg McBroom hit the mark in 2001. Reasnover is also 232 yards shy of matching EC Hall of Famer Eric Leiser (1988-91) for third place on Eureka's all-time rushing list.
Reasnover is having his best season in a Eureka uniform, ranking ninth nationally with 573 rushing yards. He also ranks 16th in Division III with six rushing touchdowns, 45th with 156.0 all-purpose yards per game and 52nd with 6.1 yards per rush.
The Momence, Ill. native also scored three times last Saturday and now has 30 career rushing touchdowns, four shy of tying Derrick Harris (1991-93) for the all-time Eureka record.
RONDINELLI FINDS PAY DIRT
Rhett Rondinelli exploded for 146 receiving yards and two scores on four grabs in last Saturday's win over Crown. The 146-yard day was Eureka's highest receiving yardage total since Matt Mogged had 154 against Westminster on Oct. 5, 2013.
The freshman from Chesterton, Ind. leads the Red Devils in 2017 with 12 receptions, 200 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He's also added 114 rushing yards on just 11 carries and an additional two scores on the ground. In all, he ranks second on the Red Devils and leads all UMAC freshmen with 450 all-purpose yards.
SAFETY DANCE
The Eureka defense delivered its first safety since October of last season during the third quarter of last weekend's win over Crown.
An illegal block on a botched kickoff return forced the Storm to start the series on its own 3. Trever Zeibert broke into the CC backfield on the next play, dropping Damien Jeffries in the end zone for a safety and a 37-7 lead.
Zeibert had five tackles and assisted on a sack in the win over Crown and now leads the Red Devils with 22 total stops in 2017. The 2016 D3football.com All-Region choice has 21.5 career sacks, the most by a Red Devil since EC began accurately tracking the statistic in 2000.
MORE DEFENSE
The Eureka defense continued its strong play last Saturday, limiting Crown to 271 yards of total offense, 130 of which came in the fourth quarter when the Red Devils were protecting a 37-point lead. Crown also produced only 12 first downs, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. Josh Mead and Logan Noel shared the team lead with six tackles.
Through the season's first four weeks, the Red Devils lead the UMAC and rank 24th nationally with 253.8 yards allowed per game. EC is especially tough against the run, holding the opposition to 3.4 yards per carry and 89.8 yards per contest, fewest in the league and 37th-fewest in Division III.
Eureka also leads the UMAC in third down conversion defense (26%), fourth down conversion defense (17%), first downs allowed (44) and pass efficiency defense (105.47).
KUHNE EARNS SECOND WEEKLY UMAC AWARD
For the second time in the first four weeks of the 2017 season, Eureka College sophomore kicker Tanner Kuhne has been chosen UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week, the league office announced last Monday. Kuhne was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra point attempts in the Red Devils' 44-20 league win over Crown last Saturday at McKinzie Field.
He averaged 59.1 yards on seven kickoffs, including a touchback on the game's opening kickoff. Kuhne also added an assisted tackle in kickoff coverage in the third quarter.
Kuhne leads all UMAC kickers with 22 points through the season's first four games. He is 16-for-17 on the year on point-after attempts, already 13th-most in a season by an EC kicker in the modern era. Kuhne is on pace to challenge the single-season Eureka record for extra points, set by Travis Huber with 34 successful point-after tries during the 2009 season.
ABOUT IOWA WESLEYAN
Iowa Wesleyan owns a 1-3 record and a 1-2 mark in conference play. The Tigers have lost two straight UMAC decisions, including a 32-14 setback at MacMurray last weekend. IWU is unbeaten at home in 2017, topping Crown 41-34 in their only contest at Bob Evans Field this season.
The IWU offense ranks fourth out of 10 UMAC teams with 373.8 yards per game. Much of the yardage comes from the Tigers' air attack, led by senior quarterback Alex Payne. The Richards, Mo. native is 79-for-144 for 826 yards and six scores. Payne has been plagued at times by interceptions, giving the ball away eight times for an NCAA passing efficiency of 105.7, eighth-highest among UMAC quarterbacks.
Payne's favorite target is senior Rodolfo Amezcua, who leads the UMAC with 27 grabs for 390 yards. He has scored twice. The IWU rushing game is paced by Akenyon Bagley, who has carried 26 times for 156 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, Iowa Wesleyan allows a league-worst 486.5 yards per contest. Most of the damage comes from their opponents' rushing attack, as the Tigers' four opponents have combined for 1,102 yards and 12 touchdowns through IWU's first four games.
Freshman defensive back Daireon Smith leads the unit with 43 total tackles, fourth-most among UMAC defenders. Sophomore linebacker Austin Ferguson is next with 37 stops, followed by freshman defensive back Travaughn Durr with 34 total tackles. Sophomores Joseph Mosley and Adrian Walker have each collected an interception.
Iowa Wesleyan University is located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 30 minutes northwest of Burlington and a 140-mile drive from Eureka. The institution is one of the oldest four-year, coeducational, church-related liberal arts universities west of the Mississippi River. IWU is in the final year of its transition from NAIA and to NCAA Division III. The Tigers joined Eureka as a full-time member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and an associate member of the UMAC prior to the 2013-14 academic year.
MEET THE HEAD COACHES
Eureka College Athletics Hall of Famer Kurt Barth is in his ninth season as the head coach at Eureka. The winningest head coach in program football history, Barth has led EC to a pair of eight-win seasons and molded the Red Devils into an annual contender in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
In all, Eureka has received 53 All-UMAC selections in eight seasons under Barth's direction. Additionally, Barth's strategies have put a dent in the Eureka football record book, as the Red Devils have broken 16 program records, including eight passing records, since his arrival in 2009.
Mike Richtman is the 49th head coach at Iowa Wesleyan. He is 4-10 through his first 14 games as head coach at IWU. The 1997 St. Mary's (Minn.) graduate previously served as an assistant coach and academic liaison for IWU and has coached offensive and defensive line, as well as serving as the special teams coordinator since 2013.
Before coming to Iowa Wesleyan, Richtman served as a teacher and coach at Lewiston-Altura High School in Lewiston, Minn. While there, he served as offensive and defensive lines coach and special teams coordinator.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Eureka and Iowa Wesleyan will meet for the 26th time on Saturday in Mount Pleasant. Eureka leads the all-time series, 13-11-1, and owns a 6-6-1 record in games hosted by IWU.
The Red Devils and Tigers first met in football in 1947 and played as NAIA rivals as late as 1990. EC has won three of the last four matchups since the rivalry was renewed when IWU joined NCAA Division III and the UMAC in 2013, including a 29-15 win last season at McKinzie Field in which the Red Devils held possession for nearly 40 minutes and Iowa Wesleyan committed 12 penalties for 111 yards.
FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE
Iowa Wesleyan is scheduled to provide a live video broadcast and live statistics of Saturday's game. The links will be available at both iwtigers.com and eurekareddevils.com.
Frequent updates via Twitter will be available at @EurekaGameDay.