Eureka Football Team Avenges Lindbergh Homecoming Game

Even with its offense moving the ball effectively Friday night behind an exceptional offensive line performance, the  football team took only a touchdown lead into intermission against Lindbergh High School. Eureka coach Farrell Shelton said he should have been “scared” at halftime.

“You’re always scared of that team in green because they can explode on you,” he said. “But I was proud of our defense coming out in the second half and stopping them, and then our offense got going.”

Eureka’s defense made two stops early in the third quarter and the offensive scored twice in the last 1:41 of the third in a 31-7 Suburban West Conference victory at Lindbergh’s Flyer Field.

The victory keeps Eureka (5-1, 4-1) within striking distance of  in the league standings and spoiled Homecoming for Lindbergh (4-2, 4-2).

Behind 239 rushing yards from 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior running back Spencer Stein (142) and 6-foot-5, 220-pound wide receiver/Wildcat Aaron Schnurbusch (97), Eureka ran the Flyers into the ground.

“Our line pushed them around all night,” said Schnurbusch, who also had 69 yards passing and a TD reception. “They played awesome. If we didn’t have our line playing as we did tonight, I don’t know what we would do without them. They opened up holes, they got big first downs; they just did awesome.”

Stein, who has about 900 yards rushing this season, also complimented senior offensive linemen Sam Taft, Connor Fairfax, Robbie Cidlik, Tom Ercoli and Josh Sander.

“Those guys are amazing. They’re my brothers and I owe everything to them,” Stein said. “Those guys, day in and day out, go as hard as they can every single time. They’re the ones that keep the ball moving, they get the push on the d-line. It’s incredible how hard they work.”

When Schnurbusch or senior quarterback Tyler Sloyer (11-for-16, 166 yards, three TDs) did go to the air, senior Matt Hentges was a favorite target.

The receiver had six receptions for 136 yards and a TD.

Defensively, Eureka limited 1,000-yard, senior thrower Peter Simpson to 134 yards, bookended by a pair of interceptions.

“That’s a highly explosive offensive team and the thing we talk about is making sure we end every series with a kick, either a punt, field goal or PAT … winning the turnover battle,” said Shelton, noting his team forced two turnovers while not giving one to Lindbergh. “There’s no stat that determines wins and loses at any level of football more than turnovers.”

Lindbergh senior Grant Krueger had 70 rushing yards, but the Flyers finished with 68 as a team.

“We weren’t clicking much on offense and our defense was out there a lot,” Lindbergh coach Tom Beauchamp said. “It just wears you down. They did a good job with that, all the compliments to them on that part. We just have to play better.”