SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Evangel Valor opens Heart of America Athletic Conference Divisional play with a road trip to Marshall, Mo., for a 2 p.m. contest Saturday (Oct. 16) against the Missouri Valley Vikings at Gregg-Mitchell Field.
SERIES HISTORY
Evangel trails Missouri Valley in the two clubs' all-time series by a 21-16 margin, but the Valor is 11-8 against the Vikings in Marshall and has outscored MVC 128-57 over the last four meetings in the series, all of which resulted in EU victories. The current streak marks the Valor's longest in the series and follows a string of nine-straight EU losses to MVC from 2008-16, over which the Valor permitted the Vikings an average of 38.6 points per contest.
OPENING STORYLINES
► Evangel has won three of its last four Heart Conference openers, but suffered a 24-6 road loss to Benedictine in last year's divisional opener in Atchison.
► Evangel sixth-year head coach Chuck Hepola enters Saturday's contest with a 33-24 mark as EU's sideline boss; his win total ranks third in school history, trailing only Keith Barefield (66) and Scott Metcalf (44).
► Evangel ranks 11th nationally in total defense (275.8 ypg.) entering play this week, thanks in large part to a pass defense is permitting an average of just 104.7 yards per outing—good for the second-lowest average in the nation; EU, which is allowing an average of 17.8 points per game to rank 20th among all NAIA defenses, has also forced 13 turnovers on the season and scored a pair of defensive touchdowns on interception returns.
► Koel Orchard leads the Valor defense with his 54 tackles on the season; his average of 9.0 stops per outing ranks 25th among all NAIA defenders this season.
► The Valor offense is led by Dyllan Decker, who has completed nearly 61 percent of his pass attempts thus far to rank among the naiton's top 30 quarterbacks in both completion percentage (22nd) and passing efficiency (29th); the senior has thrown for 10 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
► Much of Evangel's early offensive success can be attributed to an O-line that has didn't yield a quarterback sack until the fifth game of the season; additionally, EU is the least-penalized team in the nation entering Saturday's game, averaging just 25.3 penalty yards per outing; the unit is led by two-time All-Heart Conference honoree Derrick Johnson, as well as fellow returning starters Tyler Waggoner and Doug Littrell.
► Dillon Hester was named Heart Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 4 following his performance against Peru State; the redshirt freshman totaled 108 yards on three kickoff returns, including an 80-yard touchdown return; EU ranks 10th nationally in kickoff return average (26.2) entering play this week.
► Evangel ranks fourth in both cumulative season home attendance (9,380) and average home attendance (3,127) through the first half of its home schedule.
► All Evangel home games in 2021 will be streamed live on the Evangel Sports Network in conjunction with the Heart Network. Fans can download the Heart Conference Network App for AppleTV, Amazon, or Roku and watch Evangel football games on their smart TV or streaming devices.
LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel returns to Eagle Stadium next Saturday (Oct. 23) for a 1 p.m. homecoming contest against Baker.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.
—#OneValor—
