The day has arrived. The Faulkner football team will step off the bus at Ken White Field in Waleska, Ga. Saturday morning in view of the contest that has been marked in the mind of every member of the Faulkner faithful since the schedule dropped earlier this year. The match-up pits a pair of Top 15 squads against one another for supremacy in the Mid-South Conference Appalachian Division. As the weeks to open Rob Gray's tenure atop the program have rolled by with a string of notches in the win column, every victory has done little more than build anticipation for this seventh and defining contest of the Eagle season. 

Yet, this game figured to be pivotal long before anyone knew how good Faulkner might be in 2021. This is the one that all coaches in the division must circle when the schedule drops each year. Reinhardt is the proverbial bully on the block for Appalachian Division squads. What a team is or is not and exactly how high its ceiling rests is often indicated by how it handles itself against the perennial favorite. 

It has been 2,177 days since Reinhardt lost a divisional contest, that occasion bringing a 70-56 setback at the hands of Campbellsville in the era of the now defunct Mid-South Conference West Division. Since then, Reinhardt is 32-0 in division play including a 26-0 all-time mark in Appalachian Division. 

For Faulkner in 2021, as with every Appalachian Division team in every season since the inception of the group, each hope and dream and goal of what the campaign might entail must traverse the daunting road that leads straight through the Reinhardt Eagles.
For Faulkner, the first challenge of the matchup is psychological. The visiting Eagles must quickly set aside all of the pomp and pageantry coloring the contest and allow the game to shape itself as all of the others that have come before it. 
"I think we approach it how we've approached each week this season. They all have meaning and they all can directly impact what we are trying to do as a team. We have not overlooked any opponent on our schedule," Gray said. "And I think with that approach, we've made this one as big as it is. The big thing with keeping them focused was reminding them that any pressure they may feel is a privilege and to be proud that they've put themselves in a position to feel it. I think they've done a good job of blocking out any noise there may be. "

As the days have ticked off the calendar, moving the timeline to Saturday's 11 a.m. Central kick, Faulkner's leadership has taken on the task of steering mentality.

"We are blessed to have a great group of older guys who have taken it upon themselves to guide the focus this week. They know what's at stake, but also understand this is another stepping stone in our journey," Payton Wasden, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, said. "They have done a good job all year of focusing on one game at a time. This has allowed this week to be meaningful."

"As with any game, we don't pay attention to our rank, the other team's rank or anything like that," Jordan Cagle, co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, added. "This past week we were off due to Union having to cancel because of COVID. That gave us a really good opportunity to heal up and get back to what we do best. This game, just like all the others if our guys do what we're supposed to do, we should win the game."
 
SCOUTING REPORT
 
He is not everything that's important about Reinhardt, but success for the No. 10 team in the country certainly begins and ends with standout signal caller Billy Hall. The senior quarterback from Scott, Tenn. has guided Reinhardt's offense with tremendous efficiency since stepping into a starting role in 2019. Over 24 games during that span, Hall has amassed 3,332 passing yards to go along with 1,244 more in the ground game. 

"Obviously everybody can see the numbers that Billy puts up week in and week out, but the things that impress me the most about him are his ability to lead, his ability to stay calm, and his desire to compete," Gray said. "It's not by accident that we all know who he is."
Hall leads a Reinhardt team that has tallied 4,342 yards of total offense through seven games this season with more than half of that coming on the ground as part of the vaunted run-first attack that marks the squad's offensive approach.

"Well, the first mistake people make with them is thinking that they can only run the ball. They have some guys who can hurt us catching the ball and they have Billy who can certainly throw with the best of them," Gray said. "What Coach Fred Jones and those guys are doing on offense is impressive. They make a lot of teams have to really prepare in a short amount of time. We have to tackle and we have to not give them anything easy." 

Defensively, Reinhardt has been little short of dominant. The hosting Eagles have allowed 299 yards of offense per game while forcing 26 turnovers and notching 24 sacks. The group has also produced five defensive touchdowns on the season. 
"Two things stand out when you look at Reinhardt's defensive unit. We have played other teams with speed at different positions or particular players, but Reinhardt is fast everywhere on the field. They fly to the ball and make it difficult for guys to make plays in space," Wasden said. "Secondly, they are extremely disciplined. They are where they are supposed to be, don't make mistakes, and avoid penalties."

Reinhardt accomplishes that out of a consistent approach. Where Faulkner has faced several teams in recent weeks that attempted to be very multiple on defense, Reinhardt figures to line up with a similar base each snap. 

"They have two main packages that they've stuck to so far. They have shown a lot of 4-2 and 3-2 fronts," Cagle said. "We expect to see them in a few different coverages. Probably some Cover 3 and 2-man but they'll move their safeties around some. Up front, they don't move around a whole lot but they play with really good technique and they rely on the front six to try and win the line of scrimmage."
 
BY THE NUMBERS 
 
1-6 – Faulkner's all-time record against Reinhardt. That includes two losses in the 2021 season. 
 
12 – Passes intercepted by Faulkner defenders through five games this season.
 
40.7 – Average points per game for Reinhardt this season. Equally as impressive is the 18.1 average for points per game allowed by Fred Gray's team.
 
61.3 – Kade Young's completion percentage this season as he has connected with 11 different pass catchers.
 
99.6 – Average penalty yards per game for Faulkner in 2021. That's a number the Eagle will likely need to check if they are to knock off Reinhardt.
 
707 – Days since Faulkner last lost to a team other than Reinhardt. 
 
BYE WEEK
 
The COVID cancellation and eventual forfeiture by Union afforded Faulkner the rare bonus bye week in preparation for the Reinhardt contest. That afforded the coaching staff the opportunity to focus on healing. 

"We certainly used that week for us to get better in all three phases. We had some people banged up and we used it as a week to get some other guys more reps to make sure they were ready," Gray said. "It was a lot of focusing on us and how we can play better and how we can coach better."

"The week was extremely beneficial for us in that regard. Most of our guys on offense played against Point a couple weeks ago, but very few were 100 percent. We will go into this game as healthy as we have been all year," Wasden said. 

Key to that is the return to the depth chart of many of the offensive linemen who have spent an inordinate amount of time in the training room of late. Getting those veteran leaders back on the line of scrimmage figures to give Faulkner as much depth along the front as it has had since the season kicked off. 

"The depth situation is about the same. But we've had a chance to really be healed up for the first time in a while. It's hugely important - especially at offensive line to be healthy - especially when you're headed down the back stretch of your schedule. I like where we're at," Cagle said. 

No. 14 Faulkner (6-0, 3-0) kicks off against No. 10 Reinhardt (5-2, 3-0) at 11 a.m. Central time Saturday.