GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Hawks Welcome William Jewell Saturday

William Jewell College Cardinals (1-4, 1-2 GLVC) at Quincy University Hawks (2-2, 2-1 GLVC)
Oct. 10, 2015 | 1 p.m.
Quincy, Ill. | QU Stadium

QU STADIUM UNDEFEATED: The Quincy University football team made it 2-for-2 at QU Stadium with last week's 18-16 nailbiter over Saint Joseph's before 3,117 fans on Homecoming. The Hawks will look for their third straight win in their new digs on Saturday when they take on William Jewell. Quincy is also looking to improve to 3-1 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play – the Hawks sit in a tie for third in the GLVC standings.

GLVC SPECIAL TEAMS POTW: Sophomore Mason Murray became Quincy's first conference weekly award winner as the GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance last week. The Hawks' punter (and backup quarterback) rattled off five punts – four of which pinned the Pumas inside their own 12-yard line. SJC's average drive start was its own 11-yard line on Murray's five punts. His kicking was a large reason for the Hawks winning the low-scoring contest.

SERIES WITH THE CARDS: The Hawks and Cardinals have met three times in their histories, all since both schools joined the GLVC in 2012. The Hawks own a 2-1 edge with the road team winning each game. The first two games were decided by a combined five points before the Hawks pulled away with a pair of touchdowns in the final 5:15 to beat WJC, 42-28, in Liberty, Mo. last season. Wide receiver D.J. Daughtry caught touchdown passes of 65 and 46 yards in the second quarter and finished with nine catches for 168 yards and two scores.

THIS YEAR'S CARDINALS: William Jewell enters the gaame coming off its first win of the season – a 40-16 decision over Missouri S&T in Liberty, Mo. The Cardinals rank last in the GLVC in scoring defense (35.4 points per game) and eighth in total defense (420.6 yards per game). Offensively, the Cards score 21.8 points per game. Trejuan Mask leads a three-man backfield with 321 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas Cook and Darrick Strzelecki will also see time at tailback. Nick West is completes 53.6 percent of his passes and has thrown eight interceptions to just three touchdowns. WJC averages 2.2 giveaways per game.

BEND, DON'T BREAK: The QU defense, while still giving up 436 yards of offense to Saint Joseph's stood its ground to earn an 18-16 win. The Pumas drove to the Hawks' 3-yard line on its first possesion, but QU held them to a field goal. In the second, SJC moved to the Quincy 5 before freshman linebacker Chymasie Malik Bighems stepped into a passing lane for his first career pick at the 1-yard line. The Pumas also missed a 46-yard field goal late in the second quarter. The Hawks would score a touchdown after that to take a 12-3 lead into halftime.

THE BIGGEST STOP: The Hawks led, 18-10, after scoring a touchdown with 1:37 remaining, but the defense could not hold the Pumas and dual-threat quarterback Wade Burtron as the visitors marched 65 yards in 50 seconds to cut the lead to 18-16. The two-point try was completed to Jose Esquivel, but freshman cornerback Chris Parker stood him up at the goal line to seal the two-point win.

KEEP THE BALANCE: Offensively, the Hawks maintained a solid balance, rushing for 157 yards and throwing for 228. The difference in the rushing game was that fifth-year senior Nick Lonergan was the pace-setter. The quarterback set a career-high with 76 yards on eight carries (subtracting seven yards lost on a sack). Freshman Darius Burse was also able to establish himself with 45 yards on 10 carries. Sophomore Chris Harris, still hampered by a leg injury, totaled 40 yards on 22 rushes and a touchdown.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD: After throwing three interceptions against Southwest Baptist, Lonergan was back to his normal self, going 20-for-28 through the air for 228 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He has thrown an interception in just five of his 15 starts since the beginning of last season. He ranks seventh in the nation in passing efficiency (172.0) and leads the country in passing yards per attempt (10.45). Lonergan also moved up to sixth on the active career passing yardage list in Division II with 7,273. He will make his 35th career start on Saturday against William Jewell.

LUCKY 13: Junior wide receiver Eric Poindexter caught nine passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns in last week's win. He has at least 89 receiving yards in all four games and at least 138 in two of them. The Newport News, Va. native is second in the GLVC and seventh nationally in receiving yards per game (114.5).

FRONT 7: Defensively, it was the front seven again doing the most damage as the Hawks limited the Pumas to 4.2 yards per carry. Defensive tackle Darius Carey led the squad with nine tackles with linebackers Nate Rueckemann and T.J. Daniels just behind with eight stops. On the season, the top four tacklers are part of the QU front seven, including two members of the defensive line in Carey and Darian Johnson.

KEEP THE BALL: The Hawks won the turnover battle last week, 3-0, and are now minus-1 on the season. Bighems and Adehkeem Brown each had interceptions last week.

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

#4 Adehkeem Brown: CB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore

#59 Darius Carey: DT; 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior

#54 T.J. Daniels: LB; 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

#23 D.J. Daughtry: WR; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#28 Chris Harris: RB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#91 Darian Johnson: DL; 6' 2"; Junior

#5 Nick Lonergan: QB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

#16 Mason Murray: QB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#13 Eric Poindexter: WR; 5' 11"; Junior

#17 Nate Rueckemann: LB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#4 Adehkeem Brown
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore
: CB

#59 Darius Carey
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior
: DT

#54 T.J. Daniels
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman
: LB

#23 D.J. Daughtry
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: WR

#28 Chris Harris
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: RB

#91 Darian Johnson
: 6' 2"; Junior
: DL

#5 Nick Lonergan
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: QB

#16 Mason Murray
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: QB

#13 Eric Poindexter
: 5' 11"; Junior
: WR

#17 Nate Rueckemann
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore
: LB