Kansas City, Mo. - Rattling off three-consecutive Heart South Division victories, the Central Methodist football program is receiving votes in this week's edition of the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced by the national office Monday morning. 

It is the first time the Eagles have been featured in the Top 25 poll since Oct. 19, 2009, when they were ranked No. 24. Other Heart schools included are; No. 4 Grand View, No. 5 Baker, and No. 22 Culver-Stockton. 

Central currently boasts a 7-2 overall record and a perfect 3-0 mark in Heart South Division play. It marks the first time CMU has tallied seven wins in a season since 1972 when they finished 7-3. The only other seven-plus win campaigns for Central came during the 1949 (8-1), 1930 (9-0), and 1928 (8-2) seasons.

Highlighting the 2021 schedule for CMU is a 30-24 upset win over (RV) Benedictine College back on Oct. 16 at Davis Field, and a 41-7 route of Missouri Valley College on Homecoming weekend. The Eagles are currently riding a four-game winning streak and are undefeated at home with a perfect 5-0 record. 

CMU's offense has averaged 32 points/game and over 360 yards/game. Sophomore quarterback Paxton DeLaurent has led the offense, passing for nearly 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns, while scoring seven times on the ground and racking up 333 rushing yards. 

Senior wide receiver Katavious Taylor leads the team in receptions (37), receiving yards (689), and touchdowns (11), and has averaged nearly 100 receiving yards/game. 

The CMU defense has been anchored by senior linebacker London Chambers, who has recorded a team-leading 70 tackles, averaging almost eight tackles/game. Fellow senior Will Miles has tallied six sacks while Brandon Molinari has snagged four interceptions. 

The Eagles will battle No. 5 Baker for the top spot in the South Division standings Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1:00 p.m. at Davis Field on senior day. 

To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll for this week, please see below. 

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
• Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.

Dropped from the poll: Olivet Nazarene (Ill.); Faulkner (Ala.); Dordt (Iowa); St. Thomas (Fla.)

Receiving Votes: Dordt (Iowa) 25; Faulkner (Ala.) 20; St. Thomas (Fla.) 20; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 13; Central Methodist (Mo.) 7; Southeastern (Fla.) 7; Valley City State (N.D.) 4; Texas Wesleyan 4; Cumberlands (Ky.) 3

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