Kudyba, Stephens Chosen as Titan Football MVPs

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Senior quarterback Tom Kudyba and junior defensive end Mike Stephens have been selected as the most valuable offensive player and most valuable defensive player, respectively, for the 2005 Illinois Wesleyan University football team.

Kudyba (Des Plaines, Elk Grove HS), who also earned the team’s “Best Skill” award, completed 159 of 300 passes for 1614 yards and 15 touchdowns. He finished his career No. 10 at IWU with 299 completions, No. 9 with 3,073 passing yards and No. 4 with a passing percentage of .547 (299-of-547).

He also ranks No. 9 among all IWU players in career total offense, amassing 3,811 yards with 718 rushing yards.

Stephens (Orland Park, Providence Catholic HS), who was also named the team’s “Best Lineman” and was a first team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection, made 43 total tackles, including 29 solo, and had nine quarterback sacks for -42 in yardage. Stephens also blocked three kicks, broke up three passes, forced three fumbles and recovered a fumble.

Other Team Honors

Senior fullback Nick Roto (Palatine HS) was selected as the “Most Improved Player”, junior linebacker Mike Mastro (Sarasota, Fla., Cardinal Mooney HS) earned “Best Big Skill” honors, and wide receiver Marin Ceisel (Deerfield HS) was named the team’s “Most Valuable Freshman.”

Primarily a blocking fullback, Roto made seven receptions for 40 yards.

Mastro tied for first on the team with 90 total tackles, including 41 solo, and had nine tackles for -22 yards. He also had one quarterback sack and recovered a fumble.

Ceisel led the Titans with 699 receiving yards on 34 catches with six touchdown grabs. Against Carthage, Ceisel made 10 catches for 237 yards, the fourth most in an IWU single game, behind only Chris Bisaillon (287 vs. Carroll, 1989; 260 vs. Carroll, 1991) and Eric Larsen (244 vs. North Central, 1997).

Junior kicker Mike Berry (Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge HS) was the “Best Special Teams” player.

Berry connected on 13-of-16 extra point kicks and was good on five-of-nine field goal tries with a long of 37 yards against Chicago. As the Titans’ punter he averaged 36.6 yards per boot with a long of 56 yards and 11 landing inside the opponents’ 20.

Junior quarterback Joe Murphy (Riverside, Riverside-Brookfield HS) and freshman defensive lineman Ron Watts (Hazel Crest, Hillcrest HS) were the winners of the top offensive and defensive junior varsity player honors, respectively.

Senior linebacker Levi Derber (Princeton, Spring Valley Hall HS) was the winner of the first-ever “Doug Schmied Award”, which is voted on by the coaches for loyalty, leadership, citizenship, sports-minded, team-minded and attitude. The honor, which was previously the “Titan Award”, was named for Schmied, the IWU senior offensive lineman who passed away in August.

The Titans finished with a 3-7 overall record for the second straight season and placed sixth in the CCIW with a 2-5 mark. Titan head coach Norm Eash, who has a 116-63-1 record in 19 seasons at his alma mater, will return 42 lettermen for next season and loses 11 seniors.