Red Devils Rout Benedictine, 50-20
EUREKA – Le'Anthony Reasnover (Momence, Ill./Momence H.S.) rushed for 282 yards to become the 29th player in NCAA Division III history to reach 5,000 career rushing yards and the Eureka defense held visiting Benedictine scoreless through the game's first 45 minutes in the Red Devils' 50-20 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference drubbing of Benedictine, Saturday afternoon at McKinzie Field.
The victory, Eureka's 15th in a row in the regular season, improved the Red Devils to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the NACC. The final 30-point margin was Eureka's largest in the series with the Eagles since a 44-7 victory in Lisle, Ill. on Oct. 16, 2004, as well as the Red Devils' largest home victory over BU in program history.
Reasnover rushed 29 times for 282 yards and five touchdowns. He finished the day with 516 career points to claim sixth place on the all-time NCAA Division III scoring list. He also closed competition Saturday as the 29th player in Division III history to reach 5,000 career rushing yards, and his career total of 5,183 currently ranks 23rd on the national career list.
Joe Hughes (Normal Ill./University H.S./McKendree) also reached the century mark with 106 yards on nine totes and a third-quarter touchdown run of 73 yards. Dom Parks (East Moline, Ill./United Township H.S.) caught all three of the Red Devils completed passes Saturday for 32 yards and a 22-yard score from Drew Barth (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest H.S.) early in the second quarter.
The Eureka defense limited the Eagles to 281 yards of total offense. Cameron Lucas (Canton, Ill./Canton H.S./Upper Iowa) led the group with six tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. Nehemiah Butler (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood H.S.) added his third career interception and Trevon Moore (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley H.S.) recovered a fumble.
The Red Devils needed only six plays to cover 80 yards for a score on the first series of the day. Reasnover covered all 80 yards, including a 1-yard plunge that resulted in a 7-0 advantage at the 12:13 mark of the opening period.
Shortly after Moore recovered Nick Sternad's fumble on 4th-and-1 near midfield, Reasnover made it 14-0 with a 9-yard score midway through the first quarter. Eureka led 14-0 at the end of the quarter.
Barth's touchdown throw to Parks just four plays into the second quarter extended the lead to 21-0. The EC defense went on to get two more stops later in the half before Reasnover scored his third touchdown of the day, a 7-yard run with just 21 seconds left before halftime that capped a 13-play, 49-yard drive that covered nearly six minutes. The Red Devils led 28-0 at intermission.
Benedictine went 3-and-out to begin the second half, setting the stage for another Reasnover touchdown run that allowed the lead to balloon to 36-0 and effectively put the game on ice. Moments after breaking free for a 52-yard run, Reasnover later made it 43-0 with a 13-yard score, his last of the day. Hughes pushed the cushion to 50-0 when he sprung loose for a 73-yard run at the 4:40 mark of the third quarter.
The visitors avoided what would have been Eureka's largest shutout victory since 1994 when Brandon Moore returned a punt 58 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter. The Eagles' first unit added two more scores in the final 15 minutes to set the final 30-point margin.
Eureka will take its 7-0 overall record and 4-0 league mark on the road next Saturday for a showdown with fellow NACC unbeaten Concordia (Wis.). Kickoff in Mequon, Wis. Is scheduled for 1 p.m.
NOTABLES: Eureka has won 13 of its 15 games during its current win streak by 11 points or more … Benedictine went just 1-for-12 converting on third down … Fifteen of Eureka's 17 first downs were earned via the run … Eureka converted all four of its fourth-down tries … Tanner Kuhne (Princeton, Ill./Princeton H.S.) went a perfect 6-for-6 on extra-point tries and rushed for 18 yards on a successful fake punt in the first quarter.
