LAST GAME: Illinois Wesleyan’s game against Aurora last weekend was cancelled due to the national tragedies in New York and Washington, D.C.. . In its opener on Sept. 8, IWU fell, 17-14, at Washington U., ending a string of five straight season-opening wins. Aaron Telford (Bloomington, Central Catholic HS) rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries and one TD and caught two passes for 22 yards and another TD. Kyle Eash (Bloomington HS) was 7-of-16 for 69 yards passing and rushed for another 47 yards. Mike Clark (Joliet, West HS) and Will Augustine (Downers Grove, North HS) each recorded 10 tackles to lead IWU while Joe Abruzzo (Crystal Lake, Hoffman Estates HS) had an interception and recovered a Bears’ fumble.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game and practices.
OFFENSE: Aaron Telford, senior, back, Bloomington (Central Catholic)
DEFENSE: Joe Abruzzo, senior, back, Crystal Lake (Hoffman Estates HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Josh Addis, sophomore, back, Essex (Reed-Custer HS)
SCOUT (Offense): Josh Holtgrewe, freshman, end, Millstadt (Belleville West HS); Steve Lucas, freshman, quarterback, Grant Park (Kankakee HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Patrick Kinsella, sophomore, end, Bolingbrook (Joliet Catholic HS); Jared Wagner, sophomore, line, Lexington (HS).

FOR THE RECORD: IWU teams are 26-9-1 in September in the Norm Eash era and the loss to Washington U. was the first by IWU in September since 1995. . .IWU had won 11 straight regular season non-league games, dating back to a 24-21 loss to Simpson in 1995 . . .The Titans are 50-14 (.778) at home and 42-25-1 on the road (.634) under Eash. . .IWU is 39-7 (.841) at Wilder Field in the last 10 years . . .Dating back to 1995, IWU has won 44 of its last 54 games (.815) and has been over the .500-mark for seven straight years and 11 of the last 12 years.

RANKINGS: IWU, ranked No. 28 in the preseason Don Hansen’s Football Gazette rankings, is not in the top 40 in the publication this week.

THE COACHES: Norm Eash, a 1975 IWU graduate, is in his 15th season as head coach at Illinois Wesleyan. He has an overall record of 92-39-1 (.706) and a CCIW mark of 71-31-1 (.694) with conference titles in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2000. Eash is fifth in all-time CCIW coaching wins and is second in victories at IWU, behind Don "Swede" Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86). Eash will celebrate his 48th birthday on Monday . . A graduate of Sheperd College, Steve Wilt is in his eighth season at Taylor and has a career mark of 36-40.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS: An NAIA school, Taylor plays in the Mid-States Football Association (West League). . . Last year Taylor was 3-7, but in 1999 the Trojans were 10-2 and played in the NAIA national playoffs . . . They also were in the playoffs in 1998 . . . Last week, Taylor gave up three second quarter TDs to fall behind 21-0 at the half and lost to Tri-State, 28-10. Taylor scored on a 9-play, 63-yard drive when Josh Westerfield rushed in from one yard out. Westerfield led Taylor with 27 yards on 8 carries. Tri-State made six sacks for ?67 yards, and had seven more tackles for yardage loss. Defensively, Justin Harrison led the Trojans with eight tackles, five of them solo. Brock Ricks had six, while Mike Kenney and Josh Hershey each had five. Josh Cole was 15 of 34 for 177 yards and two interceptions. Jeff Walton caught three passes for 24 yards, while Aaron Sams had 31 yards on two catches. Robby Smith hit a 37-yard field goal in the first half.

THE SERIES: This is the second meeting between the two non-league schools. Last year, IWU won 20-12, in Upland, Ind. 20-12 decision over Taylor last Saturday in Upland, Ind. Max Milinkovich rushed for 98 yards and two TDs, including the game-clincher with 2:10 left. Joel Castillo completed 11 of 28 passes for 201 yards and Shawn Emerson had eight catches for 172 yards. Brad Andrekus had 14 total tackles to pace the defense.
2000      IWU 20, @ Taylor 12

ON THE AIR: The IWU/Taylor game will be broadcast on cable channel 10 for Bloomington-Normal subscribers at 7 tonight. The game will also be shown tomorrow and Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and on Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. The “Titan Coaches Show” will be on the air a half hour prior to each game broadcast.

LOOKING AHEAD: IWU opens its 56th CCIW football season next week, playing at North Park at 1 p.m. The Vikings are coached by 1975 IWU grad Robin Cooper. A former Titan quarterback and baseball player, Cooper was a teammate of IWU coach Norm Eash.

OFFICIALS: The officials for the Taylor game are Gary Crull, Chris Hartbank, Greg Koerner, Scott Cooper, Ad Owens, Craig Patrick.