SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Evangel Valor return to action on Saturday (Sept. 26) night, hosting the #8 Friends Falcons for their third consecutive top-25 clash in the KCAC. Kickoff is set for 6:05 PM in Nixa, Mo., at Eagle Stadium and Saturday's broadcast will be produced by Mediacom Local.

To view the live stream, click here. To access live stats, click here. For tickets, click here.

OPENING STORYLINES

• Saturday's contest is the third of four consecutive matchups against teams that were top-25 or receiving votes in the latest poll.

• Evangel eleventh-year head coach Chuck Hepola enters Saturday's contest with a 73-37 overall record, the most wins by a football head coach at Evangel.

• Evangel was picked to finish first in the Kessinger Division coaches and media poll, while Friends was slated to finish first in the Bissell's preseason media poll, but second in the coaches poll.

• The Valor slipped to #24 in the NAIA after falling on Saturday in a road matchup with McPherson, 40-14. Leading the KCAC, Friends is currently 8th, while McPherson sits at #15. Southwestern and Kansas Wesleyan round out KCAC schools in the poll, both currently receiving votes. An updated top 25 rating comes out every Monday the rest of the season.

• Evangel and Friends match up for the seventh time in program history, as Evangel leads the series, 4-2, but aims to bounce back after falling on the road last season, 53-0.

• Senior Broc Lyle sits 2nd all-time in receptions (166), 4th all-time in receiving touchdowns (26), and 9th in receiving yards (2,165) in school history.

• Cole Austin led the defense last weekend, finishing with 12 tackles and a pass breakup in the loss.

• Matt Allen and Luke Milligan continued to trade reps last week against McPherson, as Allen threw for 71 yards and two touchdowns, while Milligan threw for 31 yards.

• Kenneth Spring came away with his first interception of the season last Saturday, recording a 55 yard return to help set the Valor up with strong field position.

• Cody Voysey went 2-2 for PATs on Saturday, moving his streak to 56 consecutive PAT makes, dating back to more than a year ago. The current Evangel record is 58 consecutive makes (Derek Roberts, 2015-17).

• Evangel moved to 1-3 all-time against McPherson with the loss last Saturday, the only KCAC opponent the Valor hold a losing record against.

UP NEXT

Evangel Football hits the road to conclude non-divisional play next Saturday (Oct. 3) afternoon, taking on the (RV) Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes at 1:00 p.m., in Salina, Kansas.

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—