LISLE, Illinois - The Benedictine University football team raised the curtain on the 2011 season with a convincing 45-7 home win over Eureka on Saturday night.

Following an early weather delay and a quiet first quarter, L. J. Stolarski opened the scoring by drilling a 31-yard field goal to cap a 67-yard drive. John Borsellino stretched the advantage to 10-0 with a 13-yard scamper early in the second quarter.

The Red Devils immediately answered, scoring their lone points of the game on a pair of big plays. Quarterback Sam Durley drilled Cody Myers for a 41-yard gain before hitting Matt Dawson for a 25-yard score with 9:34 left in the half.

As the half wound down Andrew Taylor stepped in fron of a Durley pass and raced 33 yards into the endzone to put the Eagles ahead 17-7 at the half. Benedictine twice was denied points on the Eureka side of the field.

The flood gates opened with a big third quarter as Benedictine tallied 21 points to start a rout. John Alessi returned the opening kickoff of the second half 59 yards, setting the stage for John Borsellino's first score of the game, a one-yard plunge.

The big play led to the final two scores of the quarter. Matt Brown hooked up with Brandin Austin for an 82-yard score on the second play of a drive with 4:11 remaining. Borsellino scampered 73 yards less than two minutes later to pad the lead to 38-7. Brown finished off the scoring early in the fourth with a 49-run.

Benedictine racked up 502 yards of offense in the win, including 318 on the ground. Borsellino found the end zone three times while amassing 194 yards on the ground. Austin reeled home three passes for 119 yards while Brown finished 7-of-14 with 164 yards. Ben Lockton powered the defense with eight tackles including 5.5 for loss, three of which were sacks.

The Eagles (1-0) continue the non-conference portion of the schedule next Saturday looking to avenge a loss from last year when North Park University (1-0) of the CCIW visits in a 7:00 p.m. game.