Eureka's Minehan, Jefferson Earn Weekly UMAC Honors

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Eureka College senior free safety Mike Minehan (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S./McKendree) has been named the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week and junior punter Jordan Jefferson (Normal, Ill./Normal West H.S.) has been chosen as the league's Special Teams Player of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday morning.  The duo played a large role in Eureka's 23-6 UMAC win over Crown last Saturday.

Minehan led a Eureka defense on Saturday that allowed its fewest points in a game since 2002, making 15 total tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss and a breaking up a pass.  The weekly UMAC award is his third after previously earning the honor on Sept. 28, 2010 and Oct. 19, 2010.  Minehan, who leads all UMAC players with 14.0 tackles per game, will enter Saturday's game at Presentation (S.D.) as the active Eureka leader with 331 career tackles.

The weekly honor from the conference is the first of Jefferson's career, as his punting gave the Red Devils a significant edge in the field position battle on Saturday.  He averaged 41.2 yards on six punts versus the Storm, putting two of his punts inside the 20-yard line.  His 56-yard punt midway through the fourth quarter was his longest of the season and his 47-yarder pinned Crown at its own 2-yard line in the final minute of the game.

Eureka will return to the road this Saturday when the Red Devils travel to Aberdeen, S.D. for a 7 p.m. kickoff against first-year UMAC program Presentation.