SERIES HISTORY
Benedictine leads the all-time series 21-13 and even hold a slim 9-7 advantage in Evangel home games. The Ravens have won the last five games and head coach Larry Wilcox is also 20-11 all-time against the Crusaders.
OPENING STORYLINES
► Evangel will play a third consecutive home game Saturday against No. 12 Benedictine at 6 p.m. from Tiger Stadium. The Crusaders are looking for their first win over the Ravens since 2012 when Evangel won a shootout 54-44 at JFK Stadium in Springfield.
►Benedictine leads the all-time series 21-13 and even hold a slim 9-7 advantage in Evangel home games. The Ravens have won the last five games and head coach Larry Wilcox is also 20-11 all-time against the Crusaders.
►The Evangel defense has played a major role in each of the first two wins for Evangel. The Crusaders sacked Grand View seven times, the most since a nine-sack performance against Central Methodist in 2015. Taylor Green led the way with 2.0 sacks while Sam Morton and Andreas Moeller each added 1.5 sacks.
►Junior defensive back, Maurice Downey was a ball hawk in the Evangel win vs. Grand View finishing a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. The former Parkview Viking also blocked the Grand View field goal in the fourth quarter that was scooped for a touchdown.
►Evangel has opened the season 2-0 for just the second time since the 2003 season. The Crusaders started the 2014 season 2-0 before a week three loss to Baker where Evangel would eventually finish 6-5. Before the '14 season, Evangel started 3-0 in the 2003 season.
►Evangel stretch to open the season with three straight home games to start the 2018 season ends Saturday against No. 12 Benedictine. It's the third straight ranked team Evangel will face to open the season after facing No. 22 SAGU, and No. 10 Grand View in weeks one and two. This week all the teams will keep their ranking as the first official Top 25 debuts Sept. 10 following the Labor Day Holiday. Among conference teams, the Heart continues to be tough nationally with Baker at No. 9, while Evangel, Missouri Valley, William Penn are all receiving votes.
LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel travels to Nebraska for its first road game of the 2018 season at Peru State. Kickoff next Saturday is scheduled for 1 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---
