GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Nov. 16 • 1 pm CT
Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium
Joliet, Ill.

Series History
Overall: Marian leads 8-1
First: Marian 27, at St. Francis 24 (8/27/2009)
Last: at Marian 31, St. Francis 7 (9/17/22)
Streak: Marian has a five-game winning streak.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 71-62 (13th year)
at USF: 71-62 (13th year)
 
MU: Ted Karras, Jr.
Alma Mater: Northwestern University
Career: 88-76 (14th year)
At MU: 64-27 (8th year)

TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday's tenth meeting between the two clubs has potential playoff implications for both squads with the winner having a chance of sneaking into the 20-team field.  Marian has made the postseason each of the past six years and nine of the last ten.  USF's last appearance came in 2011.

• The matchup will be a duel against two of the top rushing quarterbacks with USF's Sam Tumilty ranking third with his 20 rushing touchdowns and MU's Tristan Polk 22nd with his ten.
 
• Marian has a pair of players that could reach the century mark in yardage on Saturday with Keagan La Belle (875 yards rushing) and receiver Jake Reichard (996 yards receiving).

• The 16 interceptions and 30 sacks recorded by the Knights both rank ninth in the nation.
 
• The Tumilty brothers have combined for 524 points and 8,302 yards in their St. Francis careers.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACH: Joe Curry is in his 13th season as the Saints' head coach, which makes him the longest-serving coach in school history.  He has surpassed program founder Gordie Gillespie, who served as the head coach for eight seasons, and his own coach, Mike Slovick.  Slovick directed the program from 1994 through 2004.  Curry is also the winningest coach in the program with 71 victories and ranks 11th in the NAIA among active coaches.  At USF, he sits second in winning percentage (.534).  Gillespie maintains the top spot in that category at .593. 

ABOUT MARIAN: The Knights are seeking their seventh consecutive postseason berth and tenth in 11 years.  To get there, however, they will definitely need a win on Saturday along with multiple other pieces to go their way.  Like last week's St. Francis opponent, Marian matches up quite well with the Saints in many categories, including the ability to score points.  MU has averaged 36.1 points per game, but has also allowed 30.1, leading to four of its games being decided by one touchdown or less.  USF will face a dual-threat quarterback in junior Tristan Polk, who has thrown for 2,144 yards on 154-of-270 passing, while running for another 158 yards on 75 carries.  On the passing front, he is one of the top 25 players in the nation in yardage, completions and yards per game (238.2), while having thrown for 11 TDs against nine interceptions.  On the ground, he is 22nd with his ten rushing touchdowns.  The bell(e) cow in the backfield is junior Keagan La Belle, who has the 14th-most carries in the nation (168) and ranks No. 21 in yards (875), while sitting 22nd in yards per game at just under 100 (97.2).  His 13 touchdowns place him ninth in the nation.  The duo has helped MU score the ninth-most rushing touchdowns with 27.  The Knights have an equally serious threat in the receiving corps in 6-1, 205-lb. junior Jake Reichard.  His 110.7 yards receiving per game are seventh-best in the nation, with his 996 yards ranking eighth.  He is also 13th in receptions per game (6.0) and 18th in yards per catch (18.4) courtesy of his 54 total grabs.  On defense, the Knights love the sack and the interception as evidenced by their No. 9 rankings in both categories with 16 picks and 30 sacks.  They are young, however, with five of 11 starters being underclassmen, including three freshmen.  Linebacker Cade Houseman, one of those freshmen, leads the unit with 62 total tackles.  Two other underclassmen, lineman Isaiah Street and linebacker Wyatt Woodall, lead the team in tackles for loss with 12 and 11, respectively.  Street also has 7.5 sacks, while Woodall has notched 4.5.  Jayshawn Underwood and Logan Carrington headline the backfield with four interceptions each.  On special teams, Marian has the best punter in the nation in Mason Miller, who averages 45.3 yards per boot with 18 of his 39 attempts dropping inside the 20-yard line.  He has also had one punt go for 65 yards.  Freshman placekicker Kenny Curry has impressed with six field goals in nine attempts, as well, with a long of 44 yards.  He has also made 38 of his 40 PATs.  On the return front, Charles Vaden handles both punt and kick return duties with averages of 15.1 and 21.1, respectively.  He had a 62-yard return for a touchdown last week against Judson.  As a team, Marian is averaging just under 400 yards per game offensively (396.8: 151.9 rushing, 244.9 passing), while yielding 424.9 on defense (186.1 rushing, 238.8 passing).  The Knights are a plus-eight in the takeaway department.  Marian is led by former St. Francis assistant coach Ted Karras, Jr., who is in his second go-round with the program and his eight overall.  The Knights are among others receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll.                   

ABOUT THE SERIES: The two teams first clashed in 2009 and have met eight times since with Marian holding an 8-1 advantage, including a 49-7 playoff win in 2011.  USF's lone victory came in 2013 when the Saints secured a 20-6 decision.  The last time the two teams met was in 2022 with Marian posting a 31-7 victory.  With the exception of the first meeting – a 27-24 loss – the Saints have never scored more than 19 points in a game against the Knights.

EVEN STEVEN: Well, it does not get any more even with both Marian and St. Francis than having identical overall (7-2) and league (3-1) records, with both performing the same (6-2) against common foes.  The only team on St. Francis' schedule that Marian did not play was Waldorf, while Marian's only opponent that did not surface on USF's schedule was Taylor.

LUCKY SEVENS: With their 38-13 victory last week, the Saints secured their third consecutive seven-win season, a first for the program.

ROLLING SNAKE EYES: With its three takeaways this past week, USF is at a plus-11 in that category.

ONE-ARMED BANDIT: Playing with his one hand taped up like a club did not deter defensive back Trey Sayers from making some big plays against Olivet Nazarene.  The nation's leading fumble forcer added to that total with his two last week to give him five on the year.  On one of the plays, he not only forced the fumble, but recovered it, as well.  He also broke up a potential touchdown pass and recorded six tackles, which was second on the team.  

CAN EIGHT BE GREAT?  In the previous 38 years of the program, St. Francis has won eight or more games just four times with two of those resulting in postseason berths.  Those two came in the second year of the program (1987, 8-3) and 2011 when the Saints had their highest winning output (10-3).  The other eight-win seasons came in 1989 (8-2) and 2015 (8-3).

NO ONE TO ANSWER THESE RUNS: For the sixth time this season last Saturday, St. Francis went on another incredible scoring run.  After opening the campaign with 56 unanswered points against Waldorf to start the contest, USF has managed scoring streaks of 41, 23, 29, 28 and 38 points (last week) this year.

THIRTY SOMETHING: The Saints have scored no less than 31 points in each of their seven victories this season and are averaging 46.9 points per game in those wins.  For the season, offensive coordinator Matt McCarthy's unit is averaging 39.0 points per game, which ranks it 17th in the nation.  Included are 31 rushing touchdowns, which are the fifth-most in the NAIA.

CAN I PLEASE HAVE FOUR SCORES?: When USF scores four or more times in a game, the Saints have come out successful 22 times in their last 23 contests.

TRIPLE DIGITS: St. Francis has averaged better than ten points per quarter in each of its first two quarters this fall with a total of 102 points in the opening frame and 110 in the second 15-minute session.

A RECORD-SETTING DAY: USF quarterback Sam Tumilty set three single-season school records en route to earning his fourth Mid-States Football Association Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week honor this season and eighth of his career.  The first-year graduate student broke his own mark for rushing touchdowns (20), while eclipsing John Larsen's records for total touchdowns and points with 20 and 122 now, respectively.  Besides those marks, he also holds career records in rushing yards (3,324), rushing touchdowns (58) and points (350).  Other high marks can be found in the following categories:

Yards Rushing – Season
1. Dwayne Milton – 1,457 (2019)
2. Sam Tumilty – 1,371 (2021)

Yards Passing – Career
1. E.J. White – 10,053 (2010-13)
2. Don Butkus – 6,630 (2015-18)
3. Brian VanderLuitgaren – 6,582 (1994-97)
4. Sam Tumilty – 5,597 (2021-Present)

Yards Passing – Season
1. E.J. White – 3,344 (2013)  
2. E.J. White – 2,457 (2011)
3. John Goolsby – 2,426 (2009)
4. E.J. White – 2,206 (2012)
5. John Goolsby – 2,099 (2008)
6. E.J. White – 2,046 (2010)
7. Sam Tumilty – 2,039 (2024)

Passing TDs – Career
1. E.J. White – 103 (2010-13)
2. Don Butkus – 61 (2015-18)
3. John Goolsby – 48 (2006-09)
4. Sam Tumilty – 44 (2021-Present)   

SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT ON SCOTT, TOO: Sam Tumilty is not the only member of the Tumilty family that will leave his mark on the program.  Older brother Scott Tumilty holds the career marks for kick return (1,817) and punt return yards (886).

AND THERE IS MORE: Sophomore receiver Joey Tumilty could use an eraser on some of the all-time receiving numbers when his career is over two years from now.  This year, he ranks 14th in the nation in both receptions (54) and yards per game (94.4), while sitting at No. 21 in total yards (755).

TOUCHDOWN TRIO: With the careers of both Sam and Scott Tumilty coming to a close at the end of this season, one has to be amazed at the scoring numbers the Tumilty brothers have put up.  In all, they have combined for 87 touchdowns (Sam 58, Joey 20, Scott 9) and one two-point PAT for Sam for a total of 524 points.  From a yardage perspective, they have accounted for 8,302 yards between rushing, receiving, punt returns, kickoff returns and interception returns with Sam at 3,326 yards, Scott at 2,960 and Joey at 2,106.    

19 HERE, 19 THERE: In the win over Olivet Nazarene, Sam Tumilty both completed 19 passes and rushed 19 times.  He threw for 145 yards, while running for 139.  It was his fourth 100-plus yard performance on the ground this year.  He also scored four times, marking the third time he did that this year and the fifth time he did so in his career.

RANKING SAM: Sam Tumilty's name can be found among the Top 20 in the NAIA in three separate categories.  His 20 rushing touchdowns put him at No. 3, while his .646 completion percentage is 11th and his 153.8 passing efficiency, 20th.

MAC ATTACK: Daniel McLaurin put up a pair of career-high numbers in the win over ONU with his 52-yard touchdown run and 81 rushing yards on 10 carries.

SPOT REMOVER: After spotting Olivet Nazarene a 13-0 lead courtesy of the Tigers' first four plays yielding 152 yards, the St. Francis defense went on total lockdown, permitting just 136 yards on 47 plays the final 54 minutes of the contest.  Recording eight tackles for loss, including six sacks, for 53 yards aided that effort.  Defensive end Pat Strocchia led the sack attack with his 2.5.

REDIRECTING TRAFFIC: That is what sophomore linebacker Karsen Hansen has done all season long against any opposing rushers attempting to get past the line of scrimmage.  Including his two tackles for loss and one sack last Saturday, Hansen now ranks third in the nation in the former category with 18.5 TFLs and tied for eighth in sacks with eight.

CHOUTE IT OUT: Freshman defensive back Nathen Choute led the team in tackles for the first time on Saturday with his ten stops.  He also produced his first collegiate interception.

NICK PICKS: Junior defensive back Nick Mabutas is on an interception tear as of late.  In his last four games, he has picked off three passes to gain a share of the team lead with Nick Franciskovich.  Both have three interceptions on the year.

FOR THE RECORD: St. Francis is 179-230 all time, 150-171 in day games and 93-102 at home.