Eureka Rising Up for High-Powered Aurora
EUREKA – Eureka football coach Kurt Barth thought the Red Devils were in a good spot heading into last week's road conference matchup with Concordia Wisconsin.
That proved to be the case for almost the whole game.
Eureka had the upper hand against the Falcons until the very last minute of the game when the home team finished its last drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass to cap a 23-20, come-from-behind win over the Red Devils.
"Obviously a tough loss," Barth said. "Kids played hard on both sides of the ball and on specials as well. We did a lot of great things. Unfortunately, sometimes when you do all of those things right, sometimes the other team just happens to make one more play, and that's kind of what happened.
"We thought we'd have an opportunity to get a win, and we did. We just unfortunately couldn't pull it out in the end."
Now, the Red Devils are turning around and preparing to host the top team in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. On Saturday at 6 p.m., Eureka (2-4, 2-2 NACC) will take on Aurora (4-1, 3-0 NACC) under the bright lights of McKinzie Field at Pete FioRito Stadium in the first night game of the year.
"Coming off a tough week, you always want to see your kids bounce back," Barth said. "You want to see your guys get out and compete at practice, and they have. We know the type of team Aurora is – three-time conference champ the last three years. Very well-coached, athletic, big, strong, fast, everything you want in a team. So, they do present a huge challenge for us, and we're going to have to rise up to it."
The Concordia Wisconsin game gave the Red Devils a lot to build on this week against the Spartans – and for the rest of the season.
Offensively, the maroon and gold controlled the clock and ran the football well. The Red Devils tallied a season-high 242 rushing yards, with Ben Bernabei's season-high 120 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries leading the way. Peyton Doughty and Angel Garcia contributed 63 and 56 rushing yards, respectively, and each scored a touchdown as well. Leetrez Smith added 25 yards, too.
Quarterback Lukas Tinkham recorded a season-high 205 passing yards on 16-of-33 passing and had one interception. Sophomore wide receiver Sebastian Hill snagged seven catches for 118 yards, tying his season high, and senior Pierce Bradford made six receptions for 53 yards. Eureka finished with a season-high 447 yards of total offense.
The first drive of the game couldn't have been executed any better. Eureka went 80 yards on 15 plays while taking over five minutes off the clock before Doughty scored on a four-yard run.
"You felt the excitement of our guys coming off the field," Barth said. "You felt the excitement of our fans that were there. It was one of those moments where it felt like we could take off."
All told, the team moved the ball well, but it didn't capitalize inside the red zone a couple of times. Barth said the biggest missed opportunity was at the beginning of the second half. The Red Devils started off flat on the first drive and threw an interception that led to the Falcons scoring to tie it up at 13-13.
"If we come out and have a drive like we did at the beginning of the first half and go down and score, then now we're up two scores," Barth said, "and maybe you don't get in that spot (at the end)."
On the other side of the ball, the Red Devil defense limited big plays and came up with two big second-half turnovers.
Though he threw for three touchdowns, Concordia Wisconsin quarterback James Linn had a tough time completing a high-percentage of his passes. EC's defense held him to 169 yards on 14-for-36 passing and intercepting two of his passes.
Freshman defensive back Taijuan Johnson came up with a big pick with the game tied in the third quarter, and sophomore Mekhi Alvarez delivered one after Eureka took the lead on a 30-yard touchdown run by Garcia midway through the fourth.
"I do think we held them in check; I thought our defense played a fantastic game," Barth said. "They had a few more rushing yards than we had hoped coming in, but their guys made a couple of plays.
"We needed a few more plays to be made on both sides of the ball, and they weren't. Proud of our kids' effort. They came out hungry and they played well."
Aurora is coming into the matchup following three dominant wins to start NACC play and a bye week.
After going 1-1 in non-conference play with a season-opening 38-34 loss at Hope and a 49-16 win over Franklin, the Spartans held their first two league opponents, Concordia Chicago and Rockford, to seven points each. On Saturday, Oct. 1, they thrashed Wisconsin Lutheran 62-17 for Homecoming. Aurora is averaging a league-high 54.2 points per game and is third in the league in fewest points allowed with 17.
Quarterback Josh Swanson leads the NACC with a 194.3 efficiency. He has racked up 24 touchdown passes while completing 94 of 150 tries. His top target, Trey Madsen, has a league-high 528 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 32 receptions and is averaging 105.6 yards per game. Running back Jhe'quay Chretin is second in the league in rushing yards per game with 86.8.
Swanson, a first-year starter as a senior, had the pressure this season of replacing two-time NACC Offensive Player of the Year and Gagliardi Trophy Finalist Gavin Zimbelman. He has a little bit of a different style than Zimbelman, preferring to hang in the pocket rather than threaten more with his feet, but he has proven to have a strong arm and to be effective at getting the ball out.
Their defensive line, meanwhile, has stood out for being more physical and getting pressure to the quarterback. Linebacker Marcellus Romious has been a menace for opposing offenses all fall. In five games, he has 26 solo tackles and 21 assists, averaging 9.4 per game total.
Barth says that the key to the game is coming out hard, taking care of the ball and playing mistake-free. The Red Devils need to play to their strengths offensively and limit big plays defensively.
"We want our guys to go out and make a statement," Barth said. "We're not going to back down. We're going to play hard. We're going to play physical, and we're going to let the chips fall where they may, but we're going to compete and do everything we can to get a win."
