GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, Oct. 24 • 12 pm CT
Bruce R. Deaton Field
Chicago, Illinois

Series History
Overall: Saint Xavier leads 26-2.
First: SXU 20, at USF 13 (9/30/00)
Last: SXU 10, at USF 0 (10/25/25)
Streak: SXU won the last meeting.

The Two Coaches
USF: Joe Curry
Alma Mater: USF 2001
Career: 76-75 (15th year)
at USF: 76-75 (15th year)

SXU: Mike Feminis
Alma Mater: St. Francis 1990
Career: 230-95 (28th season)
At Saint Xavier: 230-95 (28th season)

TOP STORYLINES
• Saturday marks the 29th meeting between the two schools, which is third-most amongst St. Francis all-time opponents.  Fourteen of the 28 games in the series have been decided by one touchdown or less, including 10 of the last 13 outings. 
 
• Each of USF's two wins in the series have come at Deaton Field.

• SXU wide receiver Coen Demack leads the nation in receptions (62) and catches per game (8.9).  He is also third in yards per game receiving (111.9), fourth in yards receiving (783) and fourth in touchdown grabs (10).
 
• Saints quarterback Jalen Webb-Starkey is coming off an MSFA Midwest League Player of the Week performance in which he accounted for 422 of USF's 564 total yards of offense. 

• Saint Xavier is averaging only 90.4 yards per game on the ground, while USF is at just 80.1.
 
• The Saints have had five interceptions over their last two games.


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 76 victories and second in winning percentage (.503, 76-75).  Program founder Gordie Gillespie maintains the top spot in winning percentage at .593.

Mike Feminis (Saint Xavier) is currently in his 28th season as the Cougars' head coach, where he has amassed a 230-95 overall record.  That places him second among active NAIA coaches in wins and fourth among active coaches at all levels.  He is also the seventh-winningest coach all-time in NAIA history.  Feminis, who has won 13 MSFA titles, is a 1990 graduate of St. Francis.  He is the Saints' all-time leading tackler (469 stops) and was the 1989 NAIA USA Today Defensive Player of the Year.  He also served as current USF head coach Joe Curry's defensive coordinator when Curry played for the Saints in 1998. 

ABOUT SAINT XAVIER
After getting off to a slow start – three losses to begin the year – Saint Xavier has turned things around with three victories in its last four games.  A stout defense has been the primary reason with the Cougars having allowed just 14.8 ppg (including 8.0 in its three wins) after starting off the campaign allowing 48.7 ppg over its first three contests.  Strong safety Owen Schickel, inside linebacker Carter Wynn and defensive tackle Semaj Wiliams have been the primary pieces.  Schickel leads the unit with 59 tackles and has been a disruptor throughout the field with three forced fumbles, four pass breakups and one interception.  As for Wynn, eight of his 42 tackles have gone for losses, including four sacks.  He also has four hurries.  Williams leads the unit in tackles for loss (10) and sacks (6) as part of his 37 tackles.  As a whole, SXU's defense has authored 26 sacks.  Offensively, wide receiver Coen Demack is the key cog to stop if the Saints want to win.  The 6-4, 205-lb. freshman leads the nation in receptions (62) and catches per game (8.9).  He is also third in yards per game receiving (111.9), fourth in yards receiving (783) and fourth in touchdown grabs (10).  Known for their passing attack and multiple receivers in years past, much is the same in 2026 with the Cougars averaging 286.3 yards per game (13th in the NAIA) and six different players having at least ten catches.  Senior Mario Price is the first one behind Demack with 23 receptions for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns.  Eastern Illinois transfer Blainey Dowling runs the passing attack with his 1,887 yards and 17 touchdowns.  He has completed 154 of his 278 attempts, but has thrown 11 interceptions in his seven games.  On the ground, four players have at least 22 rushing attempts but no more than 43 with the highest yield coming from senior Jacob Fisher with 162 yards.  As a team, SXU is averaging just 90.4 yards on the ground.  On special teams, Jayden Armstrong is the main threat on kick returns with his 22.9 average.  Christian Casillas has made four of his five field goal attempts and 16-of-18 PATs.  Ayden Sheppard averages just under 40 yards per punt.  Scoring tends to be at a high pace with the Cougars with five of their seven games resulting in 55 or more points between the two teams.  Saint Xavier has outscored its opponents 133-98 in the first half, but has been outscored 107-47 after the intermission.  Both SXU and its opponents have failed to convert seven times in the red zone with the Cougars getting in the end zone 15 of 27 times and making five field goals and the opposition getting six points 12 times in 22 attempts and three points three times.  SXU has converted at a better than 40 percent rate on third downs, while opponents have been very successful on fourth down (10-of-18).  Besides the 12 interceptions on the year, Saint Xavier has also lost the ball four times on fumbles leading to a minus-three takeaway mark.           

ABOUT THE SERIES
Saturday will be the 29th meeting between the two schools, which is third-most amongst St. Francis all-time opponents, sitting only behind Olivet Nazarene (33) and St. Ambrose (30).  The Cougars hold a sizable 26-2 advantage in the all-time series, but had their 17-game winning streak against the Saints snapped two years ago.  USF's 36 points in the 36-29 overtime contest were its most in the series.  The series has been decided in overtime in three of the last five matchups with seven of the last eight affairs being decided by seven points or less.  Fourteen of the 28 games in the series have also been decided by one touchdown or less, including 10 of the last 13 outings.  Each of USF's two wins in the series both came on the road.

LOOKING BACK AT LAST WEEK
USF opened Mid-States Football Association Midwest League play by continuing its dominance over Judson University with a 54-6 road victory last Saturday.  Now 7-0 all-time versus the Eagles, USF (2-5, 1-0) has never scored less than 34 points against Judson (0-7, 0-1) and has averaged better than 47.0 points per game.  On Saturday, it took the Saints two series to get warmed up, but once they did, they never let their foot off the gas pedal, authoring the season-high point total.  After the initial two possessions came without points, USF scored on each of its next six drives, totaling 41 points in just over 20 minutes.
Jalen Webb-Starkey and Larry Stringham each registered a pair of rushing touchdowns with Michael Fritz and Aaron Larkins also getting in on the act. 

WEBB GEM
A season-best performance by Webb-Starkey earned the graduate senior quarterback Mid-States Football Association Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday.  He threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two more in the 54-6 win.  That effort showcased a 17-for-22 completion performance that went for 340 yards in the road win.  His two scoring runs (40 and 8 yards) were part of a 9-carry, 82-yard rushing afternoon for him.  Altogether, he accounted for 422 of USF's 564 total yards of offense against his former team. 

I DID THAT ONCE BEFORE
Webb-Starkey's two-touchdown game was his second of the season.  He also had two versus Saint Francis (Ind.).  The grad student used a season-high 82 yards rushing to perform the feat on Saturday.

6-FOR-6
After the initial two possessions came without points last week, USF scored on each of its next six drives, totaling 41 points in just over 20 minutes.

FUEL EFFICIENCY
USF's season-high 564 yards came on just 51 offensive plays leading to an 11.1 yards-per-play average in just 21 minutes, 12 seconds of possession time.

AIR ATTACK
USF's 404 yards passing against Judson were its most in a single game since August 26, 2017 when the Saints went to the air for 520 yards against Morningside College (Iowa).

PLENTY AT THE PARTY
A total of nine different Saints caught passes last Saturday versus Judson.  Connor Engstrom led the charge with both a personal- and team-high 109 yards on his six catches.  Fritz also caught his first collegiate touchdown pass.

SETTING THE TABLE
Three of USF's eight touchdowns on the day were set up by its defense.  Gavin Day and Daniel Rouse each recovered a fumble, while John Wesolowski had one of the team's two interceptions.  It also accounted for the seventh score when Wynton White returned an interception 48 yards.  It was the first pick six of the season for St. Francis and the third interception for White this fall.

HIGH FIVE
USF's defense has recorded five interceptions in the last two weeks and Saturday marked its third time producing multiple picks this year. 

NO DAYLIGHT HERE
Day's fumble recovery versus Judson was his fourth takeaway of the season, all of which have come in each of the past five weeks.  He has two interceptions and two fumble recoveries to go along with his team-high 54 tackles.  He is tied with Rouse for that distinction.

TOP 10
A runningback to start the season, Wesolowski has proven to be quite the commodity on defense for the Saints.  He recorded his second straight 10-plus tackle game against Judson to go along with his interception.  He also had 1.5 tackles for loss.  The redshirt freshman defensive back is just one tackle behind the team leaders for the season.

A NEAR CLEAN SHEET
The Saints fell just 4 minutes, 26 seconds short of posting their first shutout of the season.  Ty'lil Terrell ruined that with his 69-yard catch in the fourth quarter.

LATE-DOWN DENIERS
Judson was just a combined 4-for-26 on third- and fourth-down plays last week.  The Eagles went 2-of-16 on third down and attempted ten fourth-down plays, coming away successful just twice.

HIGHS AND LOWS
For the second straight week, USF's 54 points were a season high, while its six points allowed were a season low.

FOR THE RECORD
The Saints are 184-243 all time, 155-183 in day games and 88-134 on the road.