Red Devils Rip Knox, Regain Lincoln Bowl Trophy, 49-24
GALESBURG, Ill. -- The Eureka College football team rolled up 519 yards of total offense -- its third 500-yard game since 2015 -- on its way to a 49-24 non-conference rout of Knox in the seventh annual Lincoln Bowl in Galesburg, Ill. The final 25-point margin marked Eureka's most lopsided win in the series with the Prairie Fire since a 41-7 victory in Galesburg on Sept. 7, 1991.
Le'Anthony Reasnover (Momence, Ill./Momence H.S.) ran for a game-high 125 yards and Joe Hughes (Normal, Ill./University H.S./McKendree) added 104 in his collegiate debut to give the Red Devils two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since Chris Wakid (137) and Hall of Famer Nick Lindsey (125) at MacMurray on Oct. 25, 2008.
Reasnover's 125-yard day left him 26 yards shy of the 4,000-yard mark in his 31-game career. He extended his own all-time Eureka records in yards and touchdowns and his 18 rushes gave him a seventh Eureka rushing record with 755 career carries. Additionally, his three scores bumped his career point total to 366. Reasnover's next touchdown will break head coach Kurt Barth's 21-year-old school record of 371 points scored.
Drew Barth (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest H.S.) navigated the air attack with a 14-for-17 effort for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns. James Douglas III (Deltona, Fla./Deltona H.S./Cornell) led the Red Devils with four grabs, while a 63-yard touchdown grab by Josh Kuse (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth H.S.) made him EC's top yardage target through the air.
Tanner Kuhne (Princeton, Ill./Princeton H.S.) was a star on special teams, going a perfect 7-for-7 on extra-point attempts and booting touchbacks on five of his eight kickoffs. He also placed three punts inside the KC 20-yard line.
Four Red Devils had five tackles to share the team lead. Logan Noel (Westville, Ill./Westville H.S.) and Colby Brannock (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth H.S.) each had a sack, newcomer Nehemiah Butler (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood H.S.) returned his first collegiate interception 34 yards and fellow newcomer Genesis Forrest (Normal, Ill./Normal West H.S.) was credited with five pass breakups.
Eureka started on its heels Saturday after a blocked punt gave the Prairie Fire a short field that resulted in a 30-yard Jesus Flores field goal and a 3-0 lead. The Red Devils quickly recovered by scoring touchdowns on each of their next five possessions, a stunning burst of 35 unanswered points that essentially put the game out of reach after just 28 minutes.
The Red Devils took the lead for good when Reasnover broke free for a 52-yard score and a 7-3 advantage at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter. Barth later tossed his first touchdown of the afternoon on a 4-yard strike to Dom Parks (East Moline, Ill./United Township H.S.), capping a 14-play drive that pushed the EC advantage to 14-3. Kuse made it 21-3 less than three minutes later on his 63-yard touchdown over the middle from Barth, the longest pass play of both players' careers.
Reasnover continued the onslaught with two more rushing touchdowns in the second quarter. By the time the dust settled, Eureka scored 35 points in a stretch of 19-minutes, 14-seconds, much to the delight of Eureka's overflow crowd on the west side of the Knosher Bowl.
Peyton Doughty (Cincinnati, Ohio/Newton H.S.) and Hughes each scored their first collegiate touchdowns in the second half.
Eureka will turn its attention to the middle game of a season-opening stretch of three non-conference contests when former league rival Iowa Wesleyan visits McKinzie Field next Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
NOTABLES: The Red Devils have won their season opener for the sixth time under 10th-year head coach Kurt Barth … The 25-point win was Eureka' largest in a season opener since beating Blackburn 57-0 on Sept. 3, 1994 … Eureka has won two in a row over KC in Galesburg for the first time in the 128-year series, but Knox leads the all-time series, 18-10-1 … Eureka's 347 rushing yards from eight different players were five yards short of cracking the program's single-game top-10 list … Eureka averaged 7.7 yards per play and held possession for 37:16 … Eureka improved to 28-8 under Barth when winning the turnover battle … Both teams had more than 100 yards in penalties … The EC defense combined for six tackles for loss … Knox was just 2-for-15 on third down conversions.
