This Saturday, Eastern University welcomes the Widener University Pride and their fans to Radnor Street Road for the fourth 'Battle of the Blue Route.' Widener won the first two games, and Eastern claimed a 35-0 win in Chester last fall. This year, the Eagles have won four-straight since beginning league play and are the only team in the MAC without a conference loss. The Pride picked up tight wins in the first two MAC games before losing at King's and dropping a Homecoming game to Albright last week.

In the MAC, the Eagles have outscored their opponents 121-49. Though 2-2 in the MAC, Widener has scored only 51 points with just three offensive touchdowns. They have three scores on returns, and Fred Adler has kicked three field goals.

For Eastern the plan is straightforward. Coach Crocker's team plays a smothering defense and runs the ball. Jeremiah Avrilien leads the way with 154.4 yards per outing, and the Eagles average over 300 rushing yards per game in the league. Avrilien is third in the nation in yards per game. As a team, the Eagles gain 6.2 yards per carry which has them 11th nationally. Six of the teams ahead of them in that category have yet to lose this year. Avrilien is averaging 8.7 yards per carry and Brett Nabb, who is second in the league with 112 yards per game, averages 6.8 yards per attempt.

The Eagles do not put the ball in danger often. Nabb has only thrown 52 times this year. Thirty-two of those tosses came in the first two weeks. Since completing only 11-of-22 passes while chasing the game at Endicott, Nabb is 19-of-30 for 305 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. One of only five teams in the country with less than three turnovers – both Eastern turnovers came in an eight-minute stretch at Delaware Valley– Eastern has just one interception and one lost fumble. Despite being the dominant defense in the league, the Eagles have only three interceptions and three forced fumbles. They have not recovered a single defensive fumble.

Widener, on the other hand, leads the league with 4 blocked kicks and two defensive touchdowns. Their defense has a league-best eight interceptions and six recovered fumbles. Their offense, however, has thrown nine interceptions and lost three fumbles while putting ten balls on the ground. The Pride had five turnovers in their 26-7 Homecoming loss to Albright last weekend. Widener has four players who have thrown the ball this fall. All four have at least one interception.

The Widener defense allows only 106 yards per contest on the ground. That number has been rising recently as Albright and King's each rushed for over 150 yards. Albright became the second team this year to put up over 300 passing yards on the Pride. The Lions had 315 yards on 34 attempts. Junior linebacker Luke Shimko leads the Widener defense with just over nine tackles an outing.

DonJuan Clark III has picked up two MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for an Eastern defense allowing only 14.6 points per game. While Eastern opponents have scored every time they have entered the red zone, they have not reached that territory often. Even after King's piled on passing yards late in the game, the Eagles are holding opposing offenses to 152 yards per game in the air and a 47 percent completion rate.

Eastern has its own special-teams weapon in Chris Rivera. The senior wide receiver ran back a kickoff for 91 yards at Endicott in the opener and has watched teams scheme to keep him from touching the ball ever since. With short kicks and balls out of bounds, Brett Nabb and the offense start possessions after opposing kickoffs in the league at the 35 yard line. Eastern's worst starting position after a kickoff was the 24 yard line in the game against Misericordia. Rivera is nearly as dangerous on punts. Though he is aggressive with return decisions returning 15-of-28 punts, Rivera averages nearly 14 yards per return. His 31-yard return against King's led to a one-play touchdown drive.

The league standings feature three teams a game behind the Eagles at 3-1. Misericordia hosts the winless FDU-Florham Devils. Stevenson, the only one of the three who has not lost to Eastern, hosts Delaware Valley. Lebanon Valley and King's play in Wilkes-Barre, and the two Reading Schools play at Albright for a chance to stay in the mix. Both Alvernia and Albright have two wins through four games.

After this weekend, the Eagles finish the season with 3-of-4 on the road. After back-to-back weekends in Reading, the Eagles will host Stevenson on Nov. 7 before ending the regular season at FDU-Florham.