Posted: Oct 20, 2017
Preview: Red Devils Visit MacMurray For UMAC Showdown
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. -- A pair of Upper Midwest Athletic Conference heavyweights will clash Saturday in a matchup that will make a major impact on the league standings when the Eureka College football team travels to Jacksonville, Ill. for a 1 p.m. kickoff against UMAC co-leader MacMurray at Freesen Field.
PDF Version of Eureka Football Game Notes
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka is 5-2 overall through the first seven week of the season and 5-1 in UMAC competition to own sole possession of third place in the current conference standings. The Red Devils have won five consecutive games and will try to match their longest win streak in more than two decades when they take the field Saturday in Jacksonville.
The Red Devils are driven by a dominant defensive unit that leads the UMAC and ranks seventh nationally with 221.9 yards allowed per game. EC has limited its opponent to 289 yards or less in each of the last six weeks, including efforts against Minnesota Morris (176), Iowa Wesleyan (170) and Westminster (79) in which the opposition failed to reach 200 yards of total offense. The pass defense ranks 17th nationally with 137.3 yards allowed per game and the run defense ranks 24th in Division III with 86.6 yards allowed on average. EC has yet to allow an opposing quarterback throw for 200 yards.
Offensively, Eureka remains on track to break the single-season team rushing record and challenge the school's all-time record for total offense in a season. The Red Devils put up 254.3 rushing yards per game, the higest mark among UMAC schools and 17th-most among Division III schools. The single-season Eureka record for rushing yards per game is 228.2, set by 1991 Red Devils. Additionally, Eureka's 24 rushing touchdowns are the most in a season since 1994 and on pace to break the school record of 29, also set in 1991.
In all, Eureka has gone over 400 yards in four of its first seven games and averages 413.9 yards per game. The Red Devils' 36.1 points per game is the most among UMAC schools and ranks 39th 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.
EUREKA WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT IN 30-19 VICTORY OVER GREENVILLE
Eureka ran its UMAC win streak to five games in a 30-19 victory over Greenville last Saturday afternoon at Pete FioRito Stadium at McKinzie Field.
LeAnthony Reasnover set the tone with 14 rushing yards on three carries and then hauled in a 46-yard touchdown throw from Drew Barth to give EC a 6-0 lead. The play marked Reasnover's second career receiving touchdown.
Lightning in the area forced a 44-minute delay in the first quarter in which McKinzie Field was cleared of all coaches, student-athletes and spectators. Four plays after action resumed, GU quarterback George Harris found Derek Griefzu with a 24-yard touchdown pass. The point-after attempt was blocked, leaving the score tied 6-6.
Reasnover's 1-yard touchdown run shortly after the start of the second quarter gave the Red Devils a 13-6 lead. Tanner Kuhne extended EC's lead to 16-6 with a 37-yard field goal, the longest successful try of his career, as time expired in the first half.
Eureka's lead ballooned to 23-6 on Reasnover's third touchdown of the day, a 9-yard run for a 23-6 cushion with 8:07 to play in the third quarter. The Panthers answered on the ensuing possession with Harris' 3-yard touchdown throw to Greifzu to trail 23-12 with 4:16 left in the third period.
The Red Devils put the contest out of reach when Reasnover scored on a 3-yard run to give the hosts a 30-12 cushion in the final minute of the third quarter.
The EC defense forced a punt and a turnover on downs on Greenville's first two series of the fourth quarter. Harris hooked up with Sean Brooks for a 3-yard touchdown pass as regulation time expired.
FIVE WINS IN A ROW
The Red Devils' 11-point win over Greenville last weekend extended their win streak to five games. It's the second season in a row in which Eureka has won five consecutive contests, the fifth time EC has won at least five games in a row in the NCAA Division III era (1978-present) and the ninth time it's happened in the 127-year history of the program.
All five of Eureka's win during its current streak have been by 11 points or more for the third time in program history. EC closed the 1893 season with a 38-5 win over Illinois State and a 24-10 triumph over Pekin High School, then began the 1894 campaign with back-to-back wins over Peoria A.C., 26-6 and 41-0, before getting the fifth consecutive win over Illinois Wesleyan, 56-5.
The 1991 Red Devils opened the season with five straight lopsided wins, topping Northwestern (Wis.) (35-3), Knox (41-7), Monmouth (37-3), MacMurray (45-9) and Blackburn (46-0) each by at least 24 points.
REASNOVER, REASNOVER AND MORE REASNOVER
Junior running back LeAnthony Reasnover scored four touchdowns last Saturday, three of which were on the ground, to break the Red Devils' modern-era single-season rushing touchdown record with 16 scores in 2017.
Reasnover broke the previous single-season mark of 14 set by Derrick Harris during his junior season in 1992. Reasnover's 16 rushing touchdowns in 2017 are second-most in the country through seven weeks.
Additionally, Reasnover is the only player in program history to have three different seasons with at least 12 rushing touchdowns. He also extended his own career program record for rushing touchdowns, ending the day with 40.
The 5-10, 200-pound Momence, Ill. native will take the field Saturday in Jacksonville with 953 rushing yards in 2017 and 2,827 career rushing yards. His 2017 rushing yardage total ranks seventh nationally and already ranks sixth on Eureka's single-season list since 1978.
With 47 more yards, Reasnover can earn Eureka's sixth modern-era 1,000-yard season and join Harris as the only EC running backs to have back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns. Reasnover can also join Harris as the only 3,000-yard rushers in program history with 73 more yards.
FRIEND LEADS THE DEFENSE
Senior linebacker Chris Friend was all over the field for the Eureka defense last weekend versus Greenville, setting a new career high with 21 total tackles. The performance was the first time an EC defender had 15 tackles or more since Friend's 16-tackle effort against Westminster on Oct. 10, 2015.
Friend, who transferred to EC from NAIA St. Xavier prior to his sophomore season in 2015, now leads the Eureka defense with 45 total tackles in 2017. His 189 tackles in his three-year Eureka career are ninth-most by a Red Devil since 2000.
ABOUT MacMURRAY
MacMurray is 7-0, the only undefeated team in the UMAC and one of only 17 remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division III. MC was the only UMAC team to win a non-conference game in 2017 and has won all six of its UMAC games by 13 points or more. The Highlanders have won 13 consecutive games since their 28-13 loss at Eureka on Sept. 24, 2016.
Like Eureka, much of MacMurray's offensive production comes from its ground game. Chazz Middlebrook, a 5-6, 200-point junior from Jacksonville, Ill. has run for 1,113 yards and 15 touchdowns on 189 carries this season. The transfer from McKendree ranks first in Division III in total rushes, third nationally in rushing yards and third in touchdowns.
Middlebrook led the country in rushing yards in last season with 1,703 and has put up 3,418 career rushing yards, fifth-most among active Division III players. Despite all of his success, Middlebrook has struggled in two in previous matchups with the Red Devils. Eureka held Middlebrook to 32 yards in 2015 and 54 yards last season, more than 100 shy of his 2016 average of 170.3 yards per game.
Quarterback Nathan Randle is another weapon for MC offense. Randle throws for 241.4 yards per game, second-most in the UMAC. His favorite target is junior Devonta Preston, who has hauled in 40 receptions for 498 yards and four touchdowns. In all, the Highlanders lead the conference rank 11th in the country with 493.4 yards per game.
The MacMurray defense yields a UMAC-best 16.9 yards per game and has held its opponent to two touchdowns or less in five of its first seven games. The Highlanders are especially tough against the pass, limiting the opposition to 145.1 passing yards per game, 23rd-fewest in Division III.
Senior linebacker London Gulley leads the Highlanders with 71 total tackles. Javon Muhammad, a junior defensive lineman from Chicago, has added 50 stops, 21.5 tackles for loss and 10.0 sacks. Muhammad's 3.1 tackles for loss per game leads all players in Division III and his 1.43 sacks per game rank third. Chris Blanchard has three of MC's nine interceptions.
MacMurray College, located approximately 120 miles southwest of Eureka in Jacksonville, Ill., was founded in 1846. MC has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 550 students. The Highlanders joined the UMAC prior to the 2009 season and compete alongside Eureka as full-time members of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in all other men's and women's sports.
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.
Chris Douglas is in his seventh season as head coach of the Highlanders. The 1994 Southwestern (Kan.) graduate inherited a winless team upon his arrival in Jacksonville in 2010. Despite another 0-10 campaign in 2013 and winning only seven games in his first four seasons, Douglas has transformed the Highlanders into one of the top programs in the UMAC.
A native of Poteau, Okla., Douglas guided Southwestern to a 20-29 record from 2002 until 2006. Douglas served as an assistant coach prior to becoming the Builders' head coach and also played for the NAIA-affiliated school. Douglas also owns collegiate coaching experience at NCAA Division II Abilene Christian, Jamestown and Highland Community College.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Red Devils and Highlanders will be meeting for the 33rd consecutive season on Saturday and have shared rivalries in the Illini-Badger Football Conference (1985-2007), St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conferene (2008) and UMAC (2009-present).
MacMurray owns a 20-12 all-time record versus EC, including a 10-5 mark against the Red Devils at Freesen Field.
Eureka's ongoing series with the Highlanders that dates back to 1985, which includes a 28-13 victory over MC last season at McKinzie Field, is its longest active series with any opponent.
FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE
MacMurray is scheduled to provide a live video broadcast of Saturday's game. The links to the broadcast will be available at mchighlanders.com eurekareddevils.com. Live stats will not be available. Updates via Twitter will be available at @EurekaGameDay.