Sat., Oct. 19 • 1 p.m. • Wilder Field at IWU Stadium
Bloomington, Ill.
LAST WEEK: The Titans lost for the first time this season, 27-10, at Augustana. IWU jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead on a 27-yard field goal by junior Brian Klesath (Peoria, Notre Dame HS) and a 7-yard RD run by senior Josh Akin (Naperville, Benet Academy). Akin rushed for 85 yards and completed 15 of 38 passes for 248 yards to account for 333 of the Titans’ 384 yards of total offense. Tim Snyder (Glen Ellyn, Glenbard South HS) made seven catches for 144 yards. Defensively, junior linebacker Solomon Jones (Kankakee HS) made four solo tackles and assisted on 10 more while seniors Nathan Bell (Mahomet, Mahomet Seymour HS) and Mike Clark (Joliet, West HS) had 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Senior Kevin Kaplan (Cary, Cary-Grove HS) returned a punt 62 yards and leads the league with a 16.1 average...The Titans are fifth in the CCIW in total offense (388.4) and sixth in defense (369.6).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game
and practices.
OFFENSE: Tim Snyder, junior, receiver, Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South HS)
DEFENSE: Solomon Jones, junior, linebacker, Kankakee (HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Drew Himes, freshman, punter, Princeton (HS)
SCOUT (Offense): Chris Pedersen, junior, receiver, Bloomington (U High);
Kevin Maliszewski, freshman, end, Glen Carbon (Edwardsville HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Jason O’Hara, sophomore, line, Bolingbrook (Romeoville
HS); William Gaitros, sophomore, line, Cerro Gordo (HS).
CHRIS ROSS: Senior Chris Ross (Chatham, Glenwood HS) has been College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin “Player of the Week” twice this year. At Chicago he ran for 206 yards and vs. North Park he ran for 187 yards and tied a school-record with four TD runs. His rushing totals are No. 8 and No. 12 in IWU single-game bests and he needs 174 more yards to crack the top 15 of IWU single-season rushing leaders. Maury Parker ran for four TDs vs. Carthage in 1990.
RANKINGS: With the loss to Augustana, IWU fell out of both the
American
Football Coaches Association poll and the top 40 in this week’s Don
Hansen Football Gazette.
The Titans were No. 16 in the Oct. 8 AFCA poll and No. 35 in
the Football Gazette.
WEEK-BY-WEEK RANKINGS:
American Football Coaches Association
Sept. 17 - 23
Sept. 24 - 23
Oct. 1 - 19
Oct. 8 - 16
Oct. 15 - not ranked
Don Hansen Football Gazette
Sept. 17 - 37
Sept. 24 - 37
Oct. 1 - 36
Oct. 8 - 35
Oct. 15 - not ranked
FOR THE RECORD: IWU teams are 45-24 in October in the Norm Eash era...Since 1995, IWU has won 55 of its last 67 games (.821) and has been over the .500-mark for eight straight years and 12 of the last 13 years. The 12 losses have come to Wheaton (4), Millikin and Augustana (3 each), Mount Union and Washington U. (1 each)... The Titans are 55-15 (.786) at home and 48-26-1 on the road (.647) under Eash...IWU is 44-8 (.846) at Wilder Field in the last 11 years (1991-2001).
ALL-TIME: IWU is 488-349-42 (.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 CARDINALS: Michael Mims rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns and three North Central quarterbacks combined to throw for 190 yards in a 28-14 win over North Park. The Cardinals’ other wins are over Franklin (44-27) and Colorado College (35-20) and they have lost to Benedictine (32-21) and Augustana (65-0). The Cardinals are led on defense by Gary Kmiec, who was the CCIW “Player of the Week” for his play against Colorado. He is second in the CCIW with 45 tackles, including a league-leading 12 for yardage loss...North Central is last in the league in defense (430.6 allowed per game) and sixth in offense (348.4).
THE COACHES: Norm Eash (Illinois Wesleyan, 1975) is in his 16th season as head coach at IWU and has an overall record of 103-41-1 (.714) and a CCIW mark of 78-33-1 (.701) 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)... John Thorne, a 1969 IWU grad, has a 3-2 mark in his first year at North Central after spending the last 22 years as coach of Wheaton Warrenville South HS. There he had a 181-64 record with state titles in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998 and two runner-up finishes. He also captured six DuPage Valley Conference titles and earned DuPage Area "Coach of the Year" honors five times.
The Norm Eash Record - Year-by-Year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE SERIES: In a series that dates back to 1945, IWU leads North Central, 35-14-3. The Titans have won 13 in a row and 19 of the last 21 games vs. North Central since 1983, including a 33-10 win in Bloomington last season.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Titans host Wheaton in a 1 p.m. game next Saturday (Oct. 26). The Thunder is off to a 4-1 start after last weekend’s 39-20 win at Millikin.
ON THE AIR: The IWU/North Central game will be broadcast via streaming audio on the Internet on WJBC Radio. Art Kimball and Greg Halbleib will provide the commentary.
LEAGUE HONORS: IWU tailback Chris Ross (Chatham, Glenwood HS) has been named offensive "Player of the Week" in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin for the weeks of Oct. 5 and Sept. 28. IWU’s Josh Akin (Naperville, Benet Academy) was CCIW “Offensive Player of the Week” on Sept. 14.
ALIVE AND KICKING: Junior Brian Klesath (Peoria, Notre Dame HS) is 17-of-29 in his career. That 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.
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.
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).