Eureka Football Players Receive Conference Awards

As I've mentioned many times on this College Sports blog, there are thousands of college student-athletes who excel on and off the field and court, but do not get the recognition because they don't play for "big time" programs.

In this article, I want to recognize some football players from Eureka College, an NCAA Div. lll school located in Eureka, ILL. Ten Eureka players recently received recognition from the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Headlining the list was Eureka SR QB Nick Lindsey. Lindsey had a tremendous Senior season to finish his four year career with the Red Devils. He led the UMAC with 317.4 yards of total offense per game, and passed for 2,471 yards and 23 touchdowns (second among UMAC quarterbacks). Lindsey also rushed for 703 yards, which was sixth in the UMAC for rushing yards and first among UMAC quarterbacks.

Eureka Sophomore WR Wes Schmidgall led the league with 1,247 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. A transfer from the NAIA's Culver-Stockton College in Missouri, Schmidgall averaged 124.7 receiving yards per game, which was the fifth-highest total in all of Division III. Freshman Kicker Travis Huber made First Team All-UMAC. The Morton, ILL native finished his Freshman year with a perfect 6-for-6 on field goal attempts, and set Eureka's all time record for longest FG made when he converted a 43-yard field goal against Crown College on Nov. 7.

Two Eureka Senior defensive players made First Team All-UMAC. they are Linebacker Matt Knake and Corner Back Cody Troutman. Knake led the league in tackles with 105, including 45 solo tackles. Knake also led the Red Devils with 12 tackles for loss. Troutman finished his four year career in a Red Devils uniform with an outstanding season in 09. The Normal, ILL native finished the season with 77 tackles and led the team with interceptions with four. In fact, Eureka went 3-0 in games in which Troutman made an interception.

Five Eureka players earned Second team UMAC honors. Lineman Todd Stewart helped the Red Devil Offense gain 4,296 yards of total offense in 2009, which was third in the UMAC. Jr. tight End Dillon Reed set new personal records this season with 36 catches for 497 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Rounding out (but certainly not least) the list of Eureka stand outs are Rosney Beverly, DeMarco Neal and Mike Minehan. All three are defensive players and earned Second Team All-UMAC honors.

Overall, the 2009 season for Eureka was a struggle. The Red Devils went 3-6 overall and 2-5 in conference play. However, regardless of the final record, to have 10 players to make All-Conference is truly an accomplishment. To find out more about Eureka College and the Red Devils, you can visit the school's athletic web site at www.eureka.edu/athletics. I have had the pleasure of meeting Eureka's Athletic Director Paul Bryant, who I helped as a Clothing Consultant at my place of work; K&G Men's Fashion Store in Atlanta. If you are a high school student-athlete and are interested in playing sports in college, contact Paul Bryant at pbryant@eureka.edu <pbryant@eureka.edu.