DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team travels to Eureka, Illinois on Saturday to face Eureka College (Ill.) in a matchup that features two teams that control their own destinies for an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championship with only two games remaining.
Where:
Pete FioRito Stadium at McKinzie Field – Eureka, Ill.
When:
Saturday at Noon
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMtY3oFx8Gc
Stats: http://www.eurekareddevils.com/sports/fball/2017-18/boxscores/20171028_5004.xml
EUREKA GAME NOTES
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 7-1, 7-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints scored 21 points in the second quarter and then shut out Crown College 14-0 in the fourth quarter to win 49-21 last week in St. Bonifacius …
Zach Edwards (West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) threw four touchdown passes, two to
Hunter Thompson (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) and two to
Aaron Olson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) … Olson, who missed the previous two weeks due to injury, had a season-high five receptions for 137 yards … CSS also had
Jack Peru (Phoenix, Ariz./Trevor G. Browne HS (Phoenix College)) and
Jeff LeMay (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) rush for over 100 yards … LeMay found the end zone twice, while Peru scored once …
Jonathan Senger (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) led the defense with 11 tackles, including two for a loss.
Where They Stand: The Saints currently sit alone atop of the UMAC standings, but face the two teams nipping at their heels in the final two weeks … Entering this week, only St. Scholastica and Eureka control their own fate when it comes to a UMAC Championship … That's because Eureka defeated previously unbeaten MacMurray College (Ill.) last week … If Eureka wins on Saturday, they will be in the driver seat heading into the final week … The Saints can clinch the UMAC's automatic qualifier this week with a win, paired with a MacMurray loss at Westminster College (Mo.) … If CSS and MacMurray both win this week, then the AQ will be determined in the regular season finale at Public Schools Stadium.
Blatz Named Player of the Week: Junior
Donovan Blatz (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) was named the UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday … It also marked the second straight week a Saint has been named the UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week … Blatz was a perfect 7-for-7 on his extra point attempts, had three touchbacks on kickoffs and averaged 36.5 yards per punt, while landing one of his two punt attempts inside the 20 yard line.
Air it Out: Edwards became the third CSS quarterback to throw for over 2,000 yards in a season on Saturday … He also became the fourth Saints quarterback to throw at least 20 touchdowns in a season … Edwards continues to lead NCAA Division III in passing yards per completion (20.0) and remains second in the nation in yards per pass attempt (10.8) … He climbed to 10
th in the country with a passing efficiency rating of 174.6 … Olson ranks fourth in the nation, averaging 26.9 yards per reception.
Block Party: The Saints have blocked four kicks this season and rank 21
st in the nation … However, Eureka leads the conference with six blocked kicks this season.
Third Downs: The Saints rank third in the UMAC, converting 37 percent of their third down attempts … However, the Eureka defense leads the conference allowing opponents to only convert 29 percent of their third downs … On the flip side, the Eureka offense leads the conference, converting 43 percent of its third downs, while the Saints rank fourth, giving up first downs 35 percent of the time.
Time of Possession: The last note relates to this note, as the Red Devils lead all of NCAA Division III in time of possession, controlling the ball for an overall of 36:39 per game … The Saints have the ball for an average of less than 30 minutes per game … Last week, Crown held the ball for over 38 minutes against the Saints.
Still Racking Up Penalties: Of the 243 teams ranked in NCAA Division III, the Saints continue to be ranked 243
rd with 88 penalties and rank 241
st with 711 penalty yards … The 88 penalties are the second-most in program history, only four behind the program-high of 92 set during the 2011 season, and there are still two games remaining.
Out in Front Early: The Saints are out-scoring league opponents 86-14 in the first quarter and 156-30 in the first half.
Record Watch: Thompson is 24 receiving yards shy of Keegan O'Neill's program record of 1,925 yards in a career … Thompson has 27 total touchdowns in a career, which is two TDs shy of Jake Jensen's record of 29 … Olson is currently tied with Keegan O'Neill's program record of 25 career TD receptions.
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. St. Scholastica – 73 points (3 First Place Votes)
2. Northwestern – 72 points (5 First Place Votes)
3. MacMurray – 61 points
4. Eureka – 54 points (2 First Place Votes)
5. Westminster – 49 points
6. Greenville – 41 points
7. Crown – 35 points
8. Minnesota Morris – 30 points
9. Iowa Wesleyan – 21 points
10. Martin Luther – 14 points
Upcoming Opponent
Eureka Red Devils
Record: 6-2, 6-1 UMAC
The Red Devils are coming off a convincing 37-20 road victory at previously unbeaten MacMurray on Saturday … After dropping their first two games of the season, by a combined 13 points, the Red Devils have won six straight, scoring at least 30 points in all six games, while allowing no more than 20 points during that span … This marks the second straight year, Eureka is contention for a UMAC Championship as it fell to the University of Northwestern in a winner-take-all game to conclude last season … That game also took place in Eureka … McKinzie Field features newly installed field turf this season … Offensively, the Red Devils are led by junior running back Leanthony Reasnover, who ranks sixth in the nation with 1,227 rushing yards and second in the country with 19 rushing touchdowns … Reasnover has recorded at least three touchdowns in five games … Junior Nick Holman and sophomore Drew Barth have split time at quarterback, as each completes over 61 percent of their passes … Barth has thrown it more and averages 120 yards per game in the air … Freshman Rhett Rondinelli has 15 receptions and has three touchdowns … Senior Dom Parks also has 15 receptions and has a team-high 291 receiving yards … The Eureka defense ranks 10
th in the nation in yards allowed … The defense features seven seniors in the starting lineup, including five in the front seven … Senior linebacker Chris Friend leads the team with 57 tackles, while senior defensive end Trevor Zeibert leads the team with 12.5 tackles for a loss … Sophomore Trevon Moore leads the secondary with 12 passes defended … In the kicking game, Tanner Kuhne is 4-of-8 in field goal attempts.
Series Record: CSS leads 7-1
(Last Meeting: 47-6 CSS – 9/17/2016)
Series History: This will be final conference meeting between the two programs as Eureka moves to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference next season … The Saints have won seven straight against the Red Devils … However, the last two meetings in Eureka have been decided by 13 points or less.
Looking Ahead: The Saints close the regular season at home against MacMurray College (Ill.) at Public Schools Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
