SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The 8th-ranked Evangel football team heads to William Penn on Saturday looking for their first road win over the Statesmen in the brief series.
SERIES HISTORY
The Crusaders will be looking for their first road victory in the series. Evangel and the Statesmen have met just three times since William Penn joined the league in 2015 with the Statesmen holding a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.
OPENING STORYLINES
►Evangel plays just its second road game of the season Saturday at William Penn where the Crusaders will be looking for their first road victory in the series. Evangel and the Statesmen have met just three times since William Penn joined the league in 2015 with the Statesmen holding a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.
►The Crusaders sit at 5-0 for the first time since the 2001 season when Evangel ran the table going 10-0 during the regular season. Evangel finished the year 11-1 after a second-round playoff loss to conference foe Benedictine ended the Crusaders season. It marks the fifth time in program history the Crusaders have started 5-0 joining the 2001, 1997, 1996, and 1988 teams.
►Sophomore punter,
Raul Avila, was named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Special Teams player of the week. Avila earned his first honor with the Crusaders playing an important role for Evangel flipping the field multiple times in the win over Culver-Stockton. He averaged 45 yards per punt and placed four inside the 20-yard line and also added a season-best 66-yard punt to finish with 363 yards on the day.
►A stellar game for the junior defensive lineman, Drace Moeller on Saturday saw the Oregon native record his first career interception. Moeller also forced three fumbles, two of which were recovered by Evangel as he now leads the nation in forced fumbles per game averaging one a contest.
►Sophomore running back
Darrius Lee stepped up for Evangel to finish with his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game of the season. Lee is averaging just below 100-yards per game and his 468 total yards rank 14th in NAIA so far this season.
Senior wide receiver
Dallas Hester continues to climb the Evangel record books. Hester joined the all-time top 10 for touchdowns last season and with his seven catches on Saturday moved into a tie for third all-time with 130 catches. Hester sits tied with Anthony Ray (1988-91) and is behind two All-Americans, Jesse Vaughn (2010-13) with 146 and Brandon Schmidly (1994-97) at the top with 148 catches.
►Joining Hester in the record books is fellow senior
Brady Collier who moved into a tie with Hester for ninth all-time in touchdown receptions. Collier caught his second TD pass of the year and now has 13 receiving touchdowns all-time.
LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel returns to Iowa next weekend for the final Heart Crossover game before conference play starts to face Graceland. Kickoff from Lamoni, Iowa is scheduled for 2 p.m.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, follow the Crusaders on Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics or go to www.EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the Go Evangel Front Row App at EvangelAthletics.com/FrontRow available on Google Play and in the App Store.
---www.EvangelAthletics.com---
