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Ann Leppke

Football Brendan Bittner

GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Hawks Take On Pumas For Homecoming

Saint Joseph's College Pumas (2-2, 1-1 GLVC) at Quincy University Hawks (1-2, 1-1 GLVC)
Oct. 3, 2015 | 1 p.m.
Quincy, Ill. | QU Stadium
Important Gameday Information

RADIO: ESPN 1440 WGEM-AM
LIVE STATS
WATCH: GLVC Sports Network

Quincy Game Notes (.pdf) | Saint Joseph's Game Notes

HOMECOMING: Quincy University welcomes back its alumni and their families this weekend for the annual Homecoming celebration. The QU football team plays host to Saint Joseph's to mark the occassion with a 1 p.m. kickoff at QU Stadium. For those alums who did not make it back for the opener on Sept. 19, it will be their first glimpse of the new-look facility. The Hawks are 1-2 in Homecoming games under head coach Tom Pajic, defeating Haskell Indian Nations, 65-0, last season.

LAST YEAR VS. SJC: The Hawks and Pumas played on a sloppy pit of mud on a rainy Saturday in Rensselaer, Ind. last October with the Hawks coming away with a 17-7 win over their conference rivals. The Pumas scored on the opening drive and held a 7-0 lead for most of the game. Eric Poindexter caught a Nick Lonergan pass with 9:41 to play to tie the game. Blake Allison drilled a 22-yard field goal to go ahead with under three minutes left before Chris Harris sealed the game with a 20-yard touchdown run after the defense forced a turnover on downs. The Hawks permitted just 288 total yards in the game and forced the Pumas to go 11-for-32 through the air.

CLOSE WITH THE PUMAS: As conference opponents the last three years, these teams have played tight battles each season. Last season's game was decided in the fourth quarter. In 2013, the Hawks lost by one possession, 34-26, at Flinn Stadium. Quincy came up just short in 2012, falling to the Pumas, 24-21, in overtime in 2012. That remains the only OT game in four years under Pajic.

THIS YEAR'S PUMAS: The Pumas have a similar makeup to their teams in the past, led by a stingy defense that has allowed just 19.2 points per game. The Pumas have allowed a combined 19 points in their two wins – a 30-10 road win over Edinboro and a 34-9 triumph over William Jewell. Offensively, two-time first team All-GLVC running back Braxton Shelton is averaging 4.8 yards per carry. The Pumas are seventh in the league in scoring offense (22.8 points per game) and eighth in total offense (284.5 yards per game).

OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: The QU offense was productive for the second consecutive game last week, piling up 447 yards in the Hawks' 56-33 defeat at Southwest Baptist. The Hawks have shown they can be extremely efficient with the ball, leading the GLVC in yards per play (7.5). Quincy is also third in scoring, averaging 29.2 points per game. The Hawks average 58 offensive plays, nearly 10 fewer than the next lowest team in the GLVC. In their first three games, QU opponents have averaged 20 more offensive plays than the Hawks. 

LONERGAN REACHES 7,000: Lonergan threw for a career-high 384 yards last week, going 21-for-34 with three touchdowns and three interceptions. The fifth-year senior has now thrown for 7,045 yards in his career, which ranks seventh among active NCAA Division II quarterbacks. Even with the three interceptions last week, Lonergan still ranks seventh in the country in passing efficiency (174.9) and he is fifth in the nation in yards per completion (17.44). He has the most yards per pass attempt (11.21) in the country. Lonergan has thrown just seven interceptions in 14 games since the start of the 2014 season. Saturday will mark Lonergan's 33rd consecutive start. He has made every pass (except for one pass on a trick play) for the Hawks since becoming the starter against Saint Joseph's on Sept. 29, 2012. That comes out to 926 passing attempts – 50 shy of the school record for career throws.

DIVIDE & CONQUER: Lonergan has not relied on one or even a group of targets in the passing game to compile his numbers. He has thrown to at least eight different pass-catchers in the first three games, including 10 different receivers last week at Southwest Baptist. Poindexter is Lonergan's leading target with 14 catches, 320 yards and two touchdowns. The junior ranks second in the GLVC and 17th nationally in receiving yards per game (106.7). 

OWEN SHOEN: Redshirt-sophomore tight end Owen Schoenenberger had a career day against the Bearcats, hauling in five passes for a career-best 147 yards. He has 10 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns on the year.

RUNNING GAME: The Hawks could not get the running game going against the Bearcats, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry. Harris, who is averaging 5.7 yards per rush this season, was hampered by an ankle injury last week and carried the ball just four times for 22 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Darius Burse led the Hawks with 27 yards on seven carries, including a touchdown – his second of the campaign.

FRONT 7: The QU front seven continues to pile up the tackles for the QU defense. The top five tacklers against SBU were from that unit, led by redshirt-freshman linebacker T.J. Daniels, who was credited with 14 stops (six solo). Redshirt-sophomore linebacker Nate Rueckemann and redshirt-junior defensive tackle Darius Carey also finished with double-digit tackle totals. 

MINUS-4: The Hawks turned the ball over four times last week and the defense did not register a takeaway. For the season the Hawks are minus-4 in the turnover category, having forced just two turnovers – a fumble against Northern Michigan and an interception against Lincoln. The Hawks have lost three fumbles in the first season's first three games.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The Hawks, in the season of their return to QU Stadium, have been chosen by the NCAA and the American Sports Network to have their Halloween game against visiting Truman State to broadcast live on national television. Kickoff for the game will now be at 11 a.m. to accommodate the TV schedule. The game will air on select Sinclair Broadcast Group syndicates across the country and will be offered to many regional sports networks. It has the potential to be seen in 94 million homes. The game will air locally on KHQA-TV 7. 

GLVCSN: The athletic communications office is pleased to announce that each home game (except Halloween) will be broadcast live on the GLVC Sports Network at QUHawks.com/watch.

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Players Mentioned

Blake Allison

#6 Blake Allison

K
5' 10"
Senior
Darius Carey

#59 Darius Carey

DT
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
T.J. Daniels

#54 T.J. Daniels

LB
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Chris  Harris

#28 Chris Harris

RB
6' 0"
Sophomore
Nick Lonergan

#5 Nick Lonergan

QB
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Eric Poindexter

#13 Eric Poindexter

WR
5' 11"
Junior
Nate Rueckemann

#17 Nate Rueckemann

LB
6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
Owen Schoenenberger

#88 Owen Schoenenberger

TE
6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
Darius Burse

#15 Darius Burse

RB
5' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Blake Allison

#6 Blake Allison

5' 10"
Senior
K
Darius Carey

#59 Darius Carey

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
DT
T.J. Daniels

#54 T.J. Daniels

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
LB
Chris  Harris

#28 Chris Harris

6' 0"
Sophomore
RB
Nick Lonergan

#5 Nick Lonergan

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
QB
Eric Poindexter

#13 Eric Poindexter

5' 11"
Junior
WR
Nate Rueckemann

#17 Nate Rueckemann

6' 1"
Redshirt Sophomore
LB
Owen Schoenenberger

#88 Owen Schoenenberger

6' 4"
Redshirt Sophomore
TE
Darius Burse

#15 Darius Burse

5' 7"
Freshman
RB