Illinois Wesleyan (8-1, 5-1) vs. Millikin (9-0, 6-0)
Sat., Nov. 11 • 1 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan Stadium, Bloomington, Ill.SENIORS DAY: Congratulations to all seniors and parents, who will be honored in pregame ceremonies Saturday. They are Chad Augspurger, Andy Bates, Joel Castillo, Shawn Emerson, Ryan Eyer, Jacob Goldberg, Jeff Heinzl, Chris Hummel, John Kovaka, Mike McPherson, Max Milinkovich, Dave Rasho, Rob Pendergast, Shawn Schadle, and Dan Vosnos.
TITAN NOTES: In a defensive showcase, IWU limited North Central to 134 yards of total offense in a 24-0 shutout in Naperville on Nov. 4. The game was 0-0 until senior Max Milinkovich (Elmhurst, York HS) rushed for a 20-yard TD only 49 seconds into the second half. A 33-yard field goal by freshman Brian Klesath (Peoria, Notre Dame HS) made the score 10-0 after three periods. Senior Creighton Drescher (Palatine HS) ran an interception back 20 yards for a TD and Ryan Eyer (Anchor, Ridgeview HS) ran one back 48 yards for a TD to give IWU the winning margin. IWU was led defensively by sophomore linebacker Joel Dodson (Pontiac HS) with 12 total tackles while senior Shawn Schadle (Crystal Lake, Marian Catholic HS) had eight tackles. . .The Titans are fifth in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin offense with 320.1 yards per game and are second in the league in defense, allowing just 244.1 yards per game. IWU leads the league in scoring defense, allowing only 11.2 points per game.
LEAGUE HONORS: Junior cornerback Creighton Drescher (Palatine HS) was named “Defensive Player of the Week” in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin for his play against North Central. Drescher had four solo tackles, assisted on two more, and returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown in the 24-0 win at North Central. . . Previously, senior quarterback Joel Castillo (Elgin, Larkin HS) was CCIW “Offensive Player of the Week” against Carthage, senior lineman Jeff Heinzl (Palatine, Fremd HS) was “Defensive Player of the Week” in the CCIW for his play vs. Elmhurst and sophomore linebacker Joel Dodson (Pontiac HS) earned the league’s weekly defensive honor vs. Aurora.
CAREER MARKS: In his career, Shawn Emerson (Zion, Zion-Benton HS) has moved up to third all-time at IWU with 1,995 receiving yards. He is behind only Chris Bisaillon (3,798 from 1989-92) and Ed Brady (2,907 from 1981-84). He is No. 5 all-time at IWU with 144 catches and is No. 8 at the school with 18 TD catches. . . Max Milinkovich (Elmhurst, York HS) has 2,180 career rushing yards, good for No. 6 all-time at IWU. He is behind Chris Humbles (2,205 yards from 1989-91) and Dana Just (2,223 yards from 1974-77). His 517 rushing attempts is the third most by an IWU player, behind Britt Travis (604) and Kurt Swearingen (589, 1975-78).
HISTORICAL: This is the seventh team in IWU’s 108-year football history to have won eight games or more. The other seasons were 1951 (8-0), 1965 (8-0), 1974 (8-1), 1992 (10-1), 1994 (8-1) and 1996 (10-1).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game and practices.
OFFENSE: None selected
DEFENSE: Creighton Drescher, junior, back, Palatine (HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Steve Schilsky, sophomore, defensive end, Springfield (Sacred Heart Griffin HS)
SCOUT (Offense): Josh Addis, freshman, receiver, Essex (Reed Custer HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Patrick Kinsella, freshman, end, Bolingbrook (Joliet Catholic HS); Nathan Bell, sophomore, linebacker, Mahomet (Mahomet-Seymour HS).FOR THE RECORD: Dating back to 1995, IWU has won 43 of its last 52 games (.827) and will have a better-than-.500 season for the seventh straight year and for the 11th time in the last 12 years. Of those nine losses, four have been to Wheaton, three to Millikin, and one each to Augustana and Mount Union. . .IWU teams were 72-21-1 in the 1990s (.769) and, in the Eash era, are 24-8 in November (.750). The Titans are 49-14 (.778) at home and 42-24-1 on the road (.634) under Eash’s tutelage. . . IWU is 38-7 (.841) at Wilder Field in the last 10 years, including 2000...IWU has won 11 straight regular season non-league games, dating back to a 24-21 loss to Simpson in 1995...CCIW teams were 19-5 against non-conference foes in the league’s first 10-game schedule.
THE COACHES: Norm Eash, a 1975 IWU graduate, is in his 14th season as head coach at Illinois Wesleyan. He has an overall record of 91-38-1 (.704) and a CCIW mark of 70-31-1 (.691) with conference titles in 1992, 1994, and 1996. Eash is sixth in all-time CCIW coaching wins and is second in victories at IWU, behind Don "Swede" Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86) . . .Doug Neibuhr is in his fifth season as head coach at Millikin and has an overall mark of 31-15 overall and is 23-10 in the CCIW. Neibuhr, a 1974 Millikin graduate, was head coach at Wittenberg for seven years prior to returning to Millikin. Neibuhr was 50-18-1 at Wittenberg and led the Tigers to a playoff appearance in 1995. He is 72-33-1 (.684) overall as a collegiate coach.
THE SERIES: In a series that dates back to 1904, Millikin holds a 50-35-7 lead over IWU. Millikin has won the last three meetings, but prior to that the Titans had won three in a row and five of the last six. Millikin had won nine in a row prior to that. Despite being 92 meetings old, the rivalry isn’t in the top 15 of Division III longest series.
RANKINGS: The Titans, who were picked to finish fourth in the CCIW preseason coaches’ poll, moved up to No. 21 in the American Football Coaches Association poll after two weeks at No. 24 and two weeks at No. 14. IWU moved up to No. 26 after two weeks at 27th in Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. In the latest usafootball.com poll, IWU was No. 23, up from 26th after the loss at Wheaton.
LEAGUE STATS: Senior quarterback Joel Castillo (Elgin, Larkin HS) is second in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in both total offense (1,622 yards) and in passing (1,608 yards). He leads the league in attempts and completions. Junior Brad Andrekus (Carol Stream, Glenbard North HS) is tied for the conference lead with five interceptions. Senior Max Milinkovich (Elmhurst, York HS) ranks sixth in the CCIW with 669 rushing yards and senior Shawn Emerson (Zion, Zion-Benton HS) is second in receiving with 664 yards on 54 catches. Milinkovich is also seventh in all-purpose yards and Emerson is eighth. Freshman Dennis Tovar (Elgin, Larkin HS) is second in the league with a 36.0 punt average while sophomore Kevin Kaplan (Cary, Cary-Grove HS) is second with a 12.7 punt return average and tied for third with four interceptions. Junior Rick Tosch (Park Ridge, Maine South HS) is seventh with an 8.4 punt return average and sophomore Chris Ross (Chatham, Chatham Glenwood HS) is fourth with a 22.2 kickoff return average. Freshman Brian Klesath (Peoria, Notre Dame HS) is third among CCIW kickers with 39 points.
LONG RETURN: When sophomore Kevin Kaplan (Cary, Cary-Grove HS) returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown vs. Carthage, it was the first Titan punt return for a TD since Oct. 4, 1997, when Kevin Fahey brought one back 39 yards vs. North Park. Kaplan’s punt return is believed to be the longest for a TD in IWU history, topping the previous long of 78 yards by Chris Bisaillon vs. Augustana (Oct. 26, 1991). Nate Hilding returned three punts for scores in 1993.
ABOUT THE BIG BLUE: Millikin has put together a 9-0 season by doing a lot of things right — in the national Division III statistics prior to the Elmhurst game, Millikin was first in scoring, fifth in rushing, sixth in total offense, eighth in rushing defense, seventh in total defense, 10th in scoring defense and 15th in pass efficiency defense. Senior quarterback Tim Brylka was fourth in the nation in passing offense with an efficiency rating of 178.3 and running back Deon Packer was seventh in scoring with 17 TDs. . .Brylka tied his own school single game record for touchdown passes with four in a 48-20 win at Elmhurst (he also did it against North Park), giving him 24 for the season. He owns MU career records for TD passes, yardage and completions and is within striking distance of the season yardage mark (2,180) with his total of 1,803. He also has the second and fourth best single-game passing performances in MU history. Brylka's total offense total of 2.148 yards after nine games puts him within reach of that single season mark (2,180 by Jim Ralston). . . Wide receiver Jerome Jackson's total of 852 receiving yards gives him the single season record, topping the old mark of 830 set by Jeff Query, who played professionally with Green Bay. . . Millikin leads the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in scoring offense (50.9 PPG), total offense (514.6 YPG) and total defense (220.9 YPG), and is second to IWU in scoring defense (11.6 PPG).