GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Oct. 17 • 1 pm CT
 Dawson Field
Elgin, Illinois

Series History
Overall: St. Francis leads 6-0.
First: at USF 34, Judson 0 (10/16/21)
Last: at USF 48, Judson 0 (10/25/25)
Streak: USF has won all six of the previous meetings.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 75-75 (15th year)
at USF: 75-75 (15th year)

JU: Shawn Flynn
Alma Mater: Judson
Career: 1-16 (2nd year)
At Judson: 1-16 (2nd season)


TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday's matchup is the opener for both teams in Mid-States Football Association Midwest League play.  
 
• The Saints have never lost to Judson in the all-time series and have never scored less than 34 points against the Eagles.

• Saints quarterback Jalen Webb-Starkey returns to his old stomping grounds at Judson.  After playing two seasons at Juniata College (Pa.), Webb-Starkey appeared in nine games for the Eagles in 2024, throwing for 292 yards and running for another 181.
 
• USF receiver Connor Engstrom is on a streak of catching eight passes in each of his last two games.

• Judson is averaging just 8.0 points and 144.3 yards of offense per game this season.


GAME NOTES

THE HEAD COACHES
Joe Curry (St. Francis) is in his 15th season as the Saints' head coach, which makes him the longest-serving coach in school history.  He is also the winningest coach in the history of the program with 75 victories and second in winning percentage (.500, 75-75).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

Shawn Flynn (Judson) is currently in his second season at the helm of the Judson program.  The 1989 two-sport Eagle alum got his start in football coaching at the high school level, serving at four different programs out in Colorado before taking over at JU.

ABOUT JUDSON
Judson opens the conference portion of the season still seeking its first victory.  Points have been hard to come by (8.0 ppg), while opponents have had their way with the Eagle defense (71.8 points allowed per game).  JU has managed just 144.3 yards per contest (63.5 rushing/80.8 passing), while allowing 567.2.  Turnovers (14, 12 of which have been interceptions) and a 24 percent conversion rate on third down also have not helped.  Sophomore quarterback Jace Velasquez has thrown for just 100 yards over his six games played.  He has completed 19 of his 45 attempts for a 42.2 rate with six interceptions.  Freshman Ty'lil Terrell is the main threat through the air, having registered 24 of the team's 66 receptions, good for 233 yards.  He also is the main kick returner at 22.4 yards per attempt.  On the ground is where the Eagles have scored all four of their touchdowns opposite 29 for the visitors.  Senior Harrison Hannah leads the group in both carries (69) and yards gained (142).  Velasquez has two of the four touchdowns.  Oscar Ortiz handles kicking detail, while freshman Lucas Rocca has taken over as the Eagles' No. 1 punter.  He averages 35.6 yards per boot.  Senior defensive back Ridley Joseph boasts the most tackles with his 30.  He is followed by linebackers Rehoboth Odunyemi and Niles Williams with 19 stops each.             

ABOUT THE SERIES
St. Francis has won each of the previous six meetings in the series, which started in 2021.  The Saints have scored no less than 34 points in each of those contests and have averaged 47.0 points per game in the all-time series.

LOOKING BACK AT LAST WEEK
Using the recipe for success that each of its previous five opponents employed against the Saints this season, head coach Joe Curry's club put up 21 first-quarter points to bolt out to a 21-0 lead and end a season-opening five-game losing streak with a 27-14 Mid-States Football Association crossover game victory against Defiance College (Ohio) at Joliet Memorial Stadium.  Coming into the contest, USF (1-5) managed just 24 first-half points over its first five games combined. 

OFF WE GO
The Saints open Mid-States Football Association Midwest League play on Saturday against Judson.  The matchup will be the first of five straight league games to close out the regular season.

A SCORING BLITZ
After totaling just 24 first-half points over the first five games combined, the Saints struck for 21 this past Saturday, scoring on each of their first three drives.  USF took advantage of a pair of short punts and an interception to set up the three scoring series.

HIGHS AND LOWS
USF's 27 points were a season high, while its 14 points allowed were a season low.

THIRD-DOWN DILIGENT
Each of USF's first two touchdowns were keyed by converting twice on third-down plays.  For the game, the Saints were 7-for-14 on that down opposite a 5-for-17 reading for Defiance.

PERFECT PASSING
USF starting quarterback Jalen Webb-Starkey going a perfect 3-for-3 passing to start his day last week fueled the opening drive and led to his best passing numbers this season.  He finished the game completing 16 of his 28 attempts for 218 yards with two touchdowns.  Each of those numbers were season highs for the graduate student.  He also put up a season-best 69 yards rushing on 14 carries.

REPEAT AFTER ME
For the second straight week, USF wide receiver Connor Engstrom totaled eight catches, this time for a season-high 87 yards.  He also caught one touchdown pass.  Coming into the game, the sophomore totaled 112 yards on 15 catches.

RUNNING STRONG
Tyshaun Strong got his name called in the backfield for the first time last week as the sophomore ran the ball five times and scored one touchdown.  

GO-GO GUERRERO
For the third time in his career, punter Adrian Guerrero pulled off a successful fake on Saturday.  The junior's career-high 21-yard run on fourth-and-six came early in the fourth quarter and set up a key insurance score for the Saints after Defiance got to within 21-14 with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.  Guerrero's run set up Jaden Boe's 26-yard touchdown reception.

TRIPLE THEFT
For the second time this season, the Saints registered three interceptions in the same game.  They also performed the feat against Taylor University in Week 3.

NO GO IN THE RED ZONE
USF's defense was tough in the red zone against Defiance.  The Yellow Jackets managed just one score in four such opportunities last week.  They had a field goal hit off the right post and turned the ball over on downs in their other three attempts.

CLOSING THINGS OUT
St. Francis' defense put an exclamation on the day with two interceptions and a fourth-down sack in the red zone on Defiance's final three possessions.  Headlining the attack was John Wesolowski, who totaled a career-high 13 tackles, 1.5 of which went for loss.  Gavin Day provided another 11.  

DAY & WHITE
Day also registered one of the three picks.  The others went to Wynton White and Matthew Perry.  USF's defense now has six interceptions on the season with Day and White each having two.

DANIEL'S DENIALS
Of Daniel Rouse's eight tackles this past weekend, three went for losses.  For the season, the transfer now has a team-best 6.5 TFLs for 18 yards in losses. 

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 183-243 all time, 154-183 in day games and 87-134 on the road.