Sat., Oct. 12 • 1 p.m. • Ericson Field
Rock Island, Ill.
LAST WEEK: Senior Chris Ross (Chatham, Glenwood HS) was named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin “Player of the Week” for the second straight week as he ran for 187 yards and tied a school-record with four TD runs to lead IWU to a 49-9 CCIW win over North Park at IWU. Ross had first quarter TD runs of 2, 14, and 45 yards and a third quarter run of 7 yards. Maury Parker ran for four TDs vs. Carthage in 1990. Senior Josh Akin (Naperville, Benet Academy) completed 19 of 30 attempts for 153 yards and two TDs without an interception. Eric White (Antioch HS) made eight catches for 94 yards. Defensively, senior safety John Butler (Deerfield HS) made nine tackles and Peter Dabrowski (Elmwood Park HS) and Vince Heaton (Wheaton, Warrenville South HS) had seven and six respectively. Junior Josh Addis (Essex, Reed-Custer HS) returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game
and practices.
OFFENSE: Chris Ross, senior, running back, Chatham (Glenwood HS); Pat
Spangler, senior, fullback, Joliet (HS)
DEFENSE: Vince Heaton, sophomore, back, Wheaton (Warrenville South
HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Josh Addis, junior, defensive back, Essex (Reed-Custer
HS)
SCOUT (Offense): Greg Gabrielsen, freshman, line, Hoffman Estates (HS);
Ryan Spellman, freshman, back, Wilmette (New Trier HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Rob Shell, sophomore, linebacker, Lansing (Thornton
Fractional South HS); Jon Robinson, sophomore, linebacker, Centralia (HS).
RANKINGS: IWU improved to No. 16 (up from No. 19) in the Oct. 8 American Football Coaches Association poll. IWU was No. 23 in both of the first two weeks. Augustana is now No. 19 and Millikin improved from No. 21 to No. 18. IWU jumped to No. 35 (up one spot) in this week’s Don Hansen Football Gazette. The Titans were picked to finish second in the preseason CCIW coaches’ poll.
WEEK-BY-WEEK RANKINGS:
American Football Coaches Association
Sept. 17 - 23
Sept. 24 - 23
Oct. 1 - 19
Oct. 8 - 16
Don Hansen Football Gazette
Sept. 17 - 37
Sept. 24 - 37
Oct. 1 - 36
Oct. 8 - 35
LEAGUE HONORS: IWU tailback Chris Ross (Chatham, Glenwood HS) and Millikin linebacker Eric Kramer were named offensive and defensive "Players of the Week", respectively, in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin for the week of Oct. 5. It is the second straight week for Ross to win the honor. IWU’s Josh Akin (Naperville, Benet Academy) was CCIW “Offensive Player of the Week” on Sept. 14.
FOR THE RECORD: IWU teams are 45-23 in October in the Norm Eash era...Since 1995, IWU has won 55 of its last 66 games (.833) and has been over the .500-mark for eight straight years and 12 of the last 13 years. The 11 losses have come to Wheaton (4), Millikin (3), Augustana (2), Mount Union and Washington U. (1 each)... The Titans are 55-15 (.786) at home and 48-25-1 on the road (.655) under Eash...IWU is 44-8 (.846) at Wilder Field in the last 11 years (1991-2001).
ALL-TIME: IWU is 488-348-42 (.578) in 110 years of football. Before the season, IWU was tied for 16th among Division III schools (with St. John’s [Minn.], 484-211-24 in 91 seasons).
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS: Augie is 2-1 with wins over Central [Iowa] (34-14) and North Central (65-0) and a loss to UW-Stevens Point (20-17). Their game at UW-Platteville was cancelled due to lightning. Last week, wingback Kyle Zick had 152 yards rushing and two TD on just 12 carries as Augie rolled up a season-high 434 yards rushing on 60 attempts. Add to that 162 yards passing and the Vikings had 596 yards of total offense while allowing the Cardinals just 23 yards of total offense. The Augustana defense forced North Central into 15 plays for negative yardage and NCC was 0 for 14 on third down conversion tries and 0 for 2 on fourth down... Augie leads the conference in total defense, allowing just 197.7 yards per game, and is fourth in offense with 402.0. Augie has run 77.7 percent of their plays (160) compared to 22.3 percent passing.
THE SERIES: Illinois Wesleyan is the only team in the CCIW with a winning series edge on Augustana. The Titans lead 38-28-1 and have won five of the last seven meetings. . .Augustana won last year’s game, 14-7, as David Chorney rushed for two scores...The Vikings won 11 in a row vs. IWU from 1981-91.
THE COACHES: Norm Eash (Illinois Wesleyan, 1975) is in his 16th season as head coach at IWU and has an overall record of 103-40-1 (.719) and a CCIW mark of 78-32-1 (.707) with conference titles in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2001. Eash, the CCIW “Coach of the Year” in 1992, 1996 and 2001, is fourth in all-time CCIW coaching wins, behind IWU’s Don Larson (142 wins), Bob Reade of Augustana (112) and Carthage’s Art Keller (105). Eash is second in victories at IWU, behind Don Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86)... Jim Barnes, a 1981 Augustana grad, has an 19-6 record in his third year at his alma mater. Barnes came to Augie after five years as head coach at the College of Wooster (Ohio), where his teams were 37-13. In 1997, the Scots were 9-1 and were 8-2 in 1998 and 1999. He was a three-year starter at defensive back and was team captain and all-CCIW in 1980.
The Norm Eash Record - Year-by-Year
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IWU ALUM COACHES: Three of the CCIW coaches are Illinois Wesleyan graduates - the Titans’ Norm Eash and North Park’s Robin Cooper, both from the class of 1975, and North Central’s John Thorne, who graduated in 1969. Four other coaches are the head mentors at their own alma maters - Jim Barnes (Augustana), Doug Niebuhr (Millikin), Mike Swider (Wheaton), and Tim Rucks (Carthage), while Elmhurst’s Paul Krohn is a Mankato State graduate.
ON THE AIR: The IWU/Augustana game will be broadcast via streaming audio on the Internet on WJBC Radio. Art Kimball and Greg Halbleib will provide the commentary.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Titans host North Central in a 1 p.m. game next Saturday (Oct. 19). The Cardinals are coached by 1969 IWU graduate John Thorne.
FOR KICKS: Junior Brian Klesath (Peoria, Notre Dame HS) is 16-of-29 in his career. That total is second all-time at IWU, behind Dave Pearce, who kicked 29 field goals from 1979-82. Klesath had a career-long 44 yarder in the win over UW-LaCrosse.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: On Sept. 21, 2002, IWU won the first home night
football game played at IWU’s Wilder Field since 1971. The Titans were
to have played Aurora at night on Sept. 15, 2001, but the game was cancelled
in light of the national tragedies of Sept. 11. The last home night game
was on Oct. 2, 1971, when Carthage downed the Titans, 22-19. Home night
game results from 1965-2002:
Sept. 24, 2002 - IWU 31, Washington U. 24 (OT)
Oct. 2, 1971 - Carthage 22, IWU 19
Sept. 19, 1970 - IWU 21, Wheaton 21
Oct. 5, 1968 - Carthage 20, IWU 13
Sept. 30, 1967 - IWU 17, Augustana 3
Oct. 1, 1966 - IWU 20, North Park 0
Sept. 25, 1965 - IWU 34, Illinois State 7
MEDIA GUIDE: The 2002 Illinois Wesleyan football media guide, complete with player and coach profiles and all-time records, is available for $5 via mail. Send a check to: Sports Information Director, Illinois Wesleyan, P.O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702-2900.
HONORS: Four players return that were first team all-CCIW choices last season - senior defensive back and punt returner Kevin Kaplan (Cary, Cary-Grove HS) (20 tackles, five interceptions, led league in punt returns); senior linebacker Mike Clark (Joliet, West HS) (82 tackles, 45 solo, 13 tackles for loss); senior offensive tackle Adam Miller (Elgin, Larkin HS); and junior wide receiver Tim Snyder (Glen Ellyn, Glenbard South HS) (27 catches for 396 yards). Kaplan is also a third team preseason All-American (Don Hansen Football Gazette).