Posted: Nov 04, 2022
One More NACC Challenge for Red Devils in 2022 Season
DE PERE, Wis. – The 2022 season is almost in the books for the Eureka football team.
On Saturday, the Red Devils (2-7, 2-5 NACC) will take on St. Norbert (5-3, 4-2 NACC) on the road in their last Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matchup of the year. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.
"Even though it hasn't been the kind of season that we expected or hoped for, it's bittersweet to wrap things up," said EC football coach Kurt Barth, the winningest coach in program history. "It's always tough when quality young men leave your program."
In the last week of the season, Eureka is looking to bounce back from a close loss and finish the season strong.
Last week, the Red Devils recovered from a slow start and got themselves in a dogfight at Lakeland. After conceding a few big plays and falling behind by 20 points early on, Eureka's defense stepped up and shut down the Muskies' fast-paced offense the rest of the way.
"Defense played their hearts out," Barth said. "They were out there for 85-90 plays. Had a lot of key fourth-down stops, created a couple of turnovers, had a touchdown.
"You couldn't have asked for a better performance, especially after that first-quarter start. They held it together and they did a phenomenal job."
Ben Bernabei put the Red Devils on the board with a one-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Late in the first half, the defense set up Eureka to put points on the board again. Senior defensive end Bryson Smith sacked the quarterback for a loss of six yards and forced the team to punt from deep.
On the ensuing drive, quarterback Lukas Tinkham found senior wide receiver Pierce Bradford for a 22-yard pickup and then connected with Hill for a 31-yard catch-and-run to the 10 with little time left. Kicker Steven Bartkus put it between the upright from 27 yards out as time expired to make it 20-10.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils trimmed the lead to three points after a fumble recovery by Jack Arnett. The defense continued to shine, while the game-changing play on the other side of the ball eluded the maroon and gold. After coming up empty on the next two drives, Eureka's hopes were extinguished with a late interception.
"We just needed a play offensively to get us over the hump, and we just didn't get it that day," Barth said. "We did some good things. We just weren't consistent enough and didn't finish some drives."
Still, senior fullback Ben Bernabei ran the ball hard and collected the third 100-rushing yard performance of his career, finishing with 125 on a season-high 23 carries. Hill notched four catches for 97 yards and Bradford had two catches for 43 yards.
Though the Red Devils haven't gotten the results they've wanted on game day, Barth maintains that it's not for a lack of effort. Day in, day out, this is a team that is working to get better and learn from its mistakes.
"Our guys have practiced hard," Barth said. "That's one thing I will say about this group. They have stayed engaged. I'm happy with where they're at and what they're doing, and that's a testament to them."
Saturday is sure to be a tough matchup for Eureka. St. Norbert is a physical team that has a big offensive line and favors the run on the offense, and a strong front seven on defense.
The Green Knights have conceded the second-fewest points per game in the league this season. With 15.1 points per game, they're just 1/2 point behind Aurora.
Among the team's highlights were holding Wisconsin Lutheran scoreless in a 7-0 win and limiting every team it has played save one to three touchdowns or fewer. Even limiting high-powered Aurora to 28 points was an achievement. With 22.3 points per game, St. Norbert is just over three points above the Red Devils. The team's highest score was 35 points in a 35-12 win over Lakeland in late September.
The Green Knights tend to split carries between junior Delton Zuleger, who has a team-high 488 yards on 110 rush attempts with three touchdowns, and senior John Trinh, who has 454 yards on a team-high 122 carries with five touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Richie Gilles is third in the league with 1,679 passing yards, second in efficiency at 137.3. He has completed 126 of 216 passes and tossed 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. His top target is sophomore Parker Lawrence, who leads the NACC in receiving yards per game at 104. He has hauled in 39 receptions for 628 yards and six touchdowns.
Another outstanding defensive performance for the Red Devils will keep the team in the game, but it will need to get its running attack going, and to be able to make plays in the passing game on a consistent basis, to have a chance to come out on top.
As the season comes to a close, Barth continues to think about the question, "How am I going to do things the right way?" He wants every player and coach in the program to have it in mind as they approach the final game, because how they respond to that question will have an impact in their lives moving forward.
"That's what we've all got to do," he said. "For the guys that are coming back, they've got to use this as a springboard into the offseason. And for the guys that are leaving, they have to use it as a springboard for their future."