Posted: Sep 29, 2022
Red Devils Looking to Bounce BacK at Concordia Chicago
CHICAGO, Ill. – The sun came up after Homecoming, and the Eureka football team got back to work.
"Win or lose, you've got to start the next week with a clean slate and get ready for who's coming up." EC coach Kurt Barth said. "You don't have time to dwell on it. You've got to regroup, and we've got to get back to being ourselves and doing things our way."
On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Red Devils will look to get things back on track against Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference foe Concordia Chicago (1-3, 0-2) on the road.
Barth has liked what he has seen from his team following the Red Devils' 58-10 loss against Benedictine last weekend.
"I've thought we've had pretty good practices," he said. "Coming off a disappointing weekend, one that was pretty uncharacteristic in a lot of ways, it's tough to swallow.
"But I thought our guys have responded well. You want to see energy, you want to see focus on the details that we miscommunicated last Saturday, and I think our guys have done their part to get that corrected."
The Red Devils know it's much easier to do at practice when things are scripted, and much more difficult to execute during the unpredictability of live play,
but the team has spent the days leading up to the game working on increasing the pace and forcing players to make adjustments on the fly.
Despite the lopsided final score, last weekend wasn't all bad. The maroon and gold played very well in the first quarter and even held a 3-0 lead going into the second.
The Red Devils defense successfully stopped Benedictine on the first two drives and created a takeaway on the third, with sophomore Marcus Toussaint recording his first career interception.
Offensively, Eureka didn't move the ball with ease, but it did enough to control the clock and put points on the board.
Steven Bartkus' field goal from 27 yards out put the home team on the board first late in the first frame. He is 2-for-2 on field goals this season and 7-for-7 on extra points.
"We played an amazing first quarter, played fantastic," Barth said "We executed fully, but you can't stop after the first quarter. In that second quarter, we just kind of fell apart and didn't rebound."
There were other encouraging signs sprinkled throughout the game – such as Leetrez Smith running the ball well in the second half and notching 64 yards on eight carries, or Jack Butler amassing 105 kick return yards – but they got a little lost in the overall development of the night. Addressing miscues and breakdowns from all angles has been the focus since Saturday.
"You learn just as much from a loss, or more from a loss, than from a win," Barth said. "Getting the things that you didn't do well corrected for the next week so they don't happen again is the bigger piece. You have to learn how to not make those mistakes again."
Concordia Chicago is coming off a pair of tough losses to start NACC play. The Cougars fell to Aurora 56-7 in Week 3 and dropped a 35-7 contest on the road at Concordia Wisconsin last week.
Prior to NACC play, they lost 34-14 to the University of Chicago in their season opener and took down Finlandia 45-7 in Week 2.
In Concordia Chicago, Barth sees a team that is similar to the Red Devils.
"They're continuing to battle to find and develop their strengths," he said. "I think they've got a very solid defense. They're very aggressive up front. They've got a very solid defensive line, their linebackers are good and their secondary is solid, as well.
"It's a very, very good defensive unit."
Defensively, the Cougars have recorded the second-most sacks in the league with nine and have surrendered the second-least yards per game in the league with 291.3, just a little over a yard more than Benedictine.
Offensively, like the Red Devils, the Cougars are working on establishing their running game and incorporating their passing game into the mix. The team did it best in Week 2 against Finlandia, when it notched 212 passing yards and 162 rushing yards.
Running back DeAndre Daniels is sixth in the league in rushing yards per game, averaging 61.3 while twice reaching the end zone. Quarterback Finnian Allers has thrown for 103.8 yards per game, tossing one touchdown and five picks.
"We're four games in," Barth said. "Obviously, we'd like our record to be different, but it's not about what's happened. It's about what's ahead of you."
Pierce Bradford Watch
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Pierce Bradford is continuing to climb in the Red Devil record books.
He is now two receptions away from reaching the top 10 in four receiving categories.
With 85 receptions, he is just two away from tying Don Bulen (1982-85) and cracking the top 10 in program history.
He is currently sixth in program history with 16.6 yards per reception, ranks fourth all-time in receiving yards with 1,415 and is tied for third in touchdowns with 17.