SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The 12th ranked Evangel Valor football team begins a two game road stand on Saturday (Oct. 28) afternoon, taking on the McPherson Bulldogs in McPherson, Kansas, at 12:30 p.m.
OPENING STORYLINES
- Evangel begins a two-game road swing Saturday at McPherson looking to stay undefeated both in the KCAC and overall. The Valor and Bulldogs have never met in football.
- Evangel seventh-year head coach Chuck Hepola won his 50th game Saturday vs. Friends as he sits second on the all-time coaching list. He passed Scott Metcalf for second on the all-time coaching wins list on Sept. 9 with a 55-0 win over Sterling. Keith Barefield's 66 wins sit at the top.
- Evangel moved up again in the latest NAIA Coaches Poll Top 25 this week to No. 12. The Valor cracked the poll on Sept. 11 at No. 25 after receiving votes in the preseason poll. Both Friends and Southwestern dropped with Southwestern falling to No. 24 and the Falcons now receiving votes.
- The Valor started the season at 8-0 for the first time since the 2018 season when they won their first eight games. Evangel finished 9-2 that season and was 2-2 in the Heart South Division.
- Evangel touts the second longest winning streak (9 games) in NAIA behind Northwestern (Iowa) who has won 21 straight games. The Valor also hold the eighth longest winning streak in college football at any level.
- The Evangel defense ranks fourth in the NAIA in points allowed after holding the nation's scoring leaders to just 11 points last Saturday. The Valor rank 6th in total yards allowed and lead the nation in pass defense.
- Evangel receiver Dillon Hester broke the Evangel career reception record last Saturday with five catches to give him 153 for his career passing Brandon Schmidly (1994-97) on the all-time list. Hester also caught a touchdown to move into 7th on the career touchdown list.
CAREER TOUCHDOWNS
Player Career REC
1. James Feazell 1986-88,92 29
2. Dimitrius Breedlove 1998-01 27
3. Anthony Ray 1988-91 27
4. Brandon Schmidly 1994-97 24
John Dollar 1994-97 24
6. Jesse Vaughn 2010-13 22
7. Dillon Hester 2020-pr 21
- Bradley Myers continues to lead the NAIA in tackles with 11.8 per game and 94 total tackles. Myers 102 tackles last season was the first Evangel player to eclipse 100 tackles in a season since Devon Overall recorded 110 in 2015. To break into the Evangel single-season top 10, Myers would need 134 tackles to tie Phil Lenyo's mark from 1980.
LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel concludes their road stand next Saturday (Nov. 4), traveling to Winfield, Kansas, to take on the 24th ranked Southwestern College Moundbuilders at 1:00 p.m.
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—
