Red Devils Run Past Rockford, 48-29
EUREKA – The Eureka football team stormed past Rockford in the rain at McKinzie Field on Saturday, snagging a 48-29 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference victory in its last home game of the spring.
The Red Devils improved to 2-2 on the season and head coach Kurt Barth tied Eureka legend Ralph McKinzie for most football games coached at EC with 116 in 12 seasons at the helm of the program.
With plenty of help from the EC offensive line, running back Joe Hughes (Normal, Ill./University) had a career day. The powerful junior churned for a career-high 234 rushing yards while scoring a career-high four touchdowns on 34 carries. With 1,967 career rushing yards, he's now in sixth in program history and is closing in on the 2,000-yard mark. He's also sixth in career rushing touchdowns, with 17 in 23 games.
As a team, the Red Devils more than doubled their highest rushing yard total of the season, finishing with 314 yards on the ground.
In addition to Hughes' big showing, quarterback Nathan Garard (Gibson City, Ill./Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley) ran for 64 yards and one score on 10 attempts, while Blake Phillips (Catlin, Ill./Salt Fork), Gabe Townsend (Winamac, Ind./Winamac), Lukas Tinkham (Abingdon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon) and Ben Bernabei (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) contributed to the running game as well.
Garard also threw for 89 yards, a touchdown and a pair of picks. Pierce Bradford (Decatur, Ill./Argenta-Oreana) caught two passes for 26 yards and a touchdown and Kolbi Crittenden (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap) made one 27-yard catch.
Eureka scored three touchdowns in the first quarter of play, with Garard scoring on a 25-yard scramble to the end zone on Eureka's first drive, Hughes rushing in for six on EC's second and Garard finding Bradford for a 25-yard score to give the Red Devils a 21-0 advantage with 6:17 left in the quarter.
The maroon and gold's defense forced a turnover on downs at the end of the first quarter to give EC an extra chance to extend the lead, but Rockford's Jamal Seymore Jr. intercepted Garard, and the Regents got on the board with a 7-yard touchdown run by Lavar Johnson Jr.
Hughes scored again on a five-yard rush with 5:15 left in the first half following Rockford's second failed punt of the afternoon, which gave the Red Devils offense a short field.
EC defensive linemen Jon Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) and Alexander Brittain (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) sacked the quarterback on the last play of the first half, and the home team went into halftime with a 27-7 advantage.
In the second half, Eureka's defense forced another turnover on downs on its first series on the field, and a few minutes later, the special teams unit came up big when Malaki Jenkins (Chicago, Ill./Collins) blocked a punt in the end zone. Three quick plays later, Hughes was in the end zone again with a 4-yard score to make it 34-7.
The Regents answered on their next drive, scoring on a deep throw from Samuel Cade Jr. to Maurice Williams. After that, the visitors manufactured an 8-play, 82-yard drive that ended with another Johnson touchdown.
That briefly made it 34-21, but the Red Devils opened their next drive with a 28-yard dash by Hughes.
And, once they reached the end zone, Bernabei scored on a whacky double-fumble play. First, Hughes lost his grip on the ball after getting hit. Then, Rockford recovered and let it slip away before EC's sophomore fullback finally ended the shenanigans by scooping it up and getting over the line for his first collegiate touchdown.
Rockford scored once more on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cade Jr to Joey Owens with 9:39 left. Eureka promptly responded by putting the game away with a 14-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard TD for Hughes.
Jackson and Brittain teamed up for another sack on Rockford's last drive, and Colton Walsberg (Pontiac, Ill./Pontiac) got a fourth-down sack near the end of it.
Brendan Durr (Washington, Ill./Washington) led the Red Devils with 11 total tackles on the day, including nine solos and 1 1/2 for loss, while Jackson finished with 10 total tackles and a sack. Seven Red Devils had four total tackles or more.
Next week, the Red Devils (2-2) will look to end the spring on a winning note when they face Concordia Wisconsin (2-2) on the road at 2 p.m.. Eureka could clinch its fifth straight winning season.
