Also see other stories at Football Archives
December 20
Illinois Wesleyan University sophomore Eric Esch has been named to the first team of the sixth annual Division III All-American squad chosen by D3football.com. Esch, a Bloomington High School graduate, was chosen as a return specialist. He finished second in the national Division III statistics with a 20.6 punt return average and brought back two for touchdowns. His 80-yard punt return for a TD against Chicago on Sept. 25 is tied for the third longest in school history. He was a first team all- College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin selection and was twice chosen as the CCIW “Special Teams Player of the Week:” He was earlier chosen to the second team of the Division III all-North Region squad by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. The D3football.com All-Americans were selected from more than 350 nominees. The Titans were 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the CCIW (sixth place).
December 13
Wide receiver Eric White and defensive back Vince Heaton were selected as the most valuable offensive player and most valuable defensive player, respectively, for the 2004 Illinois Wesleyan football team. White, who also earned the team’s “Best Skill” award for the second straight season, was also the team’s offensive MVP in 2003. Quarterback Tom Kudyba was selected as the “Most Improved Player”, Josh Remer earned “Best Lineman” honors, and running back Marcus Dunlop was named the team’s “Most Valuable Freshman.” The “Best Big Skill” award went to Damon Banks and Eric Esch was the “Best Special Teams” player. Freshmen Andrew Dulaney and Tim Wilkins were the winners of the top offensive and defensive junior varsity player honors, respectively. Seniors Chris Reynolds and Andrew Tarman shared the “Titan Award”, which is voted on by the coaches for loyalty, leadership, citizenship, sports-minded, team-minded and attitude. The Titans were 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the CCIW (sixth place).
December 1
Illinois Wesleyan sophomore kick returner Eric Esch was chosen to the second team and senior wide receiver Eric White was elected to the third team of the Division III all-North Region squad selected for Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. For the season Esch finished with a 20.6 average for 18 punt returns and was No. 2 in the national Division III statistics. White made 66 catches for 839 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2004 for the Titans. For the entire North Region team, go to this web site.
November 16
Illinois Wesleyan senior wide receiver Eric White, senior defensive back Vince Heaton and sophomore return specialist Eric Esch were all named to the first team of the all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin football squads in voting by league coaches on Nov. 16. Chosen to the second team were senior offensive linemen Chris Reynolds and Kyle Jones, senior defensive lineman Josh Remer and junior linebacker Damon Banks. The Titans finished 3-7 overall and were 2-5 in league play.
November 14
For the second time this season, Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Eric Esch has been chosen “Special Teams Player of the Week” in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. In the Titans’ 45-24 loss at Millikin on Nov. 13, Esch returned three punts for a 76 yard total, including one for a 41-yard touchdown, his second of the season. For the season Esch finished with a 20.6 average for 18 punt returns and was No. 2 in the national Division III statistics heading into the final week’s play.
November 13
The Illinois Wesleyan football team had an early deficit of 21-0 and could not escape, losing by a 45-24 count at Millikin on Sat., Nov. 13. Junior Tom Kudyba completed 23-of-39 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown and he rushed for another 38 yards and a touchdown. The 23 completions is tied for the 11th most in an IWU single game. Sophomore Eric Esch returned three punts for 76 yards, including one for a 41-yard TD. The Titans’ season ended with a 3-7 record (2-5 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin).
November 6
After falling behind, 15-12, early in the third quarter, Carthage scored the final 21 points of the game to defeat Illinois Wesleyan, 33-15 in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin game on Sat., Nov. 6 at IWU’s Wilder Field. Carthage improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the CCIW in winning at IWU for the first time since 1981 while the Titans will have their first losing season since 1993 as they fell to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the league.
Carthage’s Ferni Garza opened the scoring with 8:59 to play in the first quarter on a 1 yard run, capping a 14 play, 88 yard drive. The extra point kick failed and the Titans went ahead 7-6 on a pass from freshman Zack Krulac to senior Eric White with 45 seconds left in the first. Carthage went ahead, 12-7, at the 3:08 mark of the second on a 4 yard completion from Garza to Kyle Kalvaitis.
IWU went ahead, 15-12 with 10:39 left in the third when Krulac connected with Tim Snyder for a 2-yard TD pass and a two-point conversion pass was good. But Dante Washington took the next play 64 yards for a score and Carthage was ahead to stay. Washington finished with 185 yards on 42 carries.
Kalvaitis caught his second TD (a 15 yarder) with :53 to play in the third and Brandon Fox returned an interception (one of his two) 13 yards for a score with 3:23 to play in the game. Matt Denny had the extra point kicks on the final three scores.
For the Titans, White caught seven passes (for 116 yards and a TD) to give him 234 catches in his career, eclipsing the old school mark of 230 held by Chris Bisaillon. In his first start, Krulac completed 23 of 47 passes for 212 yards and two TDs and was also the Titans’ top rusher with 24 yards.
Damon Banks led IWU with 15 total tackles while Vince Heaton had 13 and Josh Remer had 12. Brett Barnes made nine tackles to lead Carthage and had an interception and a fumble recovery. Frank Shenault had eight tackles and forced a fumble and Mike Pelkowski also had eight total tackles.
October 30
Freshman Marcus Dunlop rushed 33 times for for 222 yards and three touchdowns as Illinois Wesleyan topped North Park, 35-23, at IWU on Sat., Oct. 30.
The Titans improved to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Vikings dropped to 1-7, 0-5 CCIW.
Dunlop scored on runs of 3, 44, and 52 yards in rushing for the sixth most attempts and yards in an IWU single game. Tom Kudyba threw for 172 yards and two TDs and senior Eric White had eight catches to give him 227 in his career, just three behind all-time leader Chris Bisaillon. On defense, cornerback Vince Heaton led the Titans with 11 total tackles.
The Vikings got 271 passing yards from junior Mike Haehn, who completed two TD passes to Jon Harris and one to Sherman Gant. In the game Harris had 12 catches for 176 yards and Akheem Waterford rushed 12 times for 87 yards. North Park was led on defense by Tim Rotenberry (18 total tackles and an interception) and Mike Rotenberry (13 total tackles and two sacks).
October 23
Senior All-American Eric White made three touchdown grabs and sophomore Mike Berry kicked a 47-yard field goal but the Titans fell short in their upset bid, losing at Wheaton, 42-25, on Sat., Oct. 23. The Titans are 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while No. 3-ranked Wheaton won for the 21st straight time in the CCIW and for the 26th consecutive time in regular season play. The Thunder racked up 576 yards of total offense against the Titans. Junior quarterback Tom Kudyba was 22-of-42 passing for 195 yards and the three TDs and also rushed for 113 yards. Damon Banks led the Titan defense with 10 total tackles, while defensive backs Vince Heaton and Eric Esch had nine and eight, respectively.
October 16
A 19-yard field goal by Michael Clark with 38 seconds left proved to be the gamewinner as Augustana defeated Illinois Wesleyan, 30-28, in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin game in Bloomington on Sat., Oct. 16. The Titans fall to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the CCIW as the Vikings improved to 5-1, 3-0 CCIW.
IWU had gone ahead, 28-27, when junior Tom Kudyba ran in from 4 yards out with 9:33 to play. Augustana got the ball back with just over 4:00 to play and used 3:25 to forge a nine-play, 50 yard drive that culminated in the field goal.
For the game, Kudyba completed 15 of 32 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 78 more and one TD. Eric White had six grabs for 95 yards and a score and Marcus Dunlop rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Vince Heaton had 14 total tackles for IWU and Steve Groetsema and Damon Banks each had nine.
October 9
Illinois Wesleyan missed two point after touchdown kicks and had a potential game-tying field goal blocked with three minutes left in a 21-18 loss at North Central on Sat., Oct. 9. The Titans, 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, trailed 13-0 at the half but got a TD run from Marcus Dunlop and a pair of scoring passes to Eric White from Tom Kudyba to take an 18-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. Kudyba finished 18 of 29 for 215 yards and two TDs, White had six catches for 99 yards and Dunlop gained 49 yards on 13 carries. North Central (4-1, 1-1 CCIW) was limited to 18 rushing yards.
October 2
The Illinois Wesleyan Titans amassed 480 total yards and topped Elmhurst, 44-26, in the opening of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. IWU (2-2 overall, 1-0 CCIW) got 84 yards rushing from Rick Alvis, who scored on TD runs of 34 and 30 yards, and Tom Kudyba passed for 230 yards (20-31) and a touchdown and rushed for another TD.
The Titans went ahead (14-0) with Kudyba and Alvis TD runs in the first quarter before Elmhurst's Eric Luna ran in from 7 yards out to make it 14-6.
Alvis got his second TD and Mike Berry kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 24-6 IWU before Dom Demma found Andy Brogan for a 1-yard TD pass to make the halftime score IWU 24-12.
Luna, who ran for a total of 93 yards on 29 carries, opened the second half scoring with a 4-yard TD run and the Bluejays went ahead, 26-24, at the 8:39 mark of the third quarter when Demma found Todd Evans for a 10-yard TD pass and connected with Luna for the double extra point.
But the Titans scored the final 20 points, first on a 34 yard pass from Kudyba to Eric White (:30, 3rd quarter), then on fourth quarter TD runs from Ryan Spellman (2 yards, 11:00) and Marcus Dunlop (1 yard, 3:22).
Demma was 23 of 35 for 249 yards and was intercepted for the first time this year.
Damon Banks had 15 tackles and Levi Derber and Josh Remer each had seven for Illinois Wesleyan; Ward Brady made 17 total tackles and Danny Dichiara had nine to pace the Bluejays.
September 25
Junior Tom Kudyba, making his first start at quarterback, completed 13-of-23 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 77 more and a touchdown as the Illinois Wesleyan football team captured its first win of the season, 31-13, over the University of Chicago at A.A. Stagg Field on Sat., Sept. 25. Kudyba connected with Eric White for TD passes of 4 yards (1st quarter) and 42 yards (3rd quarter) and ran 54 yards for a 4th quarter score. Eric Esch returned a punt 80 yards for a TD, tied for the third longest scoring punt return in IWU history, and the Titans made 12 sacks of Maroons’ quarterbacks. Josh Remer led IWU with 10 tackles.
September 11
The Illinois Wesleyan football team amassed 375 yards of total offense and had the ball for over 33 minutes, but could manage only one touchdown in losing to UW-Eau Claire, 28-7, on Sept. 11 at IWU Stadium. The BluGolds got on the board first at 6:28 in the first quarter on a 3-yard run by Joe Gast, capping a 78-yard, 17-play drive. The Blugolds added to their lead when Ryan Kolumbus returned an interception 21 yards for a score with 11:05 left in the half to make it 14-0. IWU’s only score came when Steve Lucas hooked up with Tim Snyder on a 6-yard scoring pass and the extra point kick was good with 7:17 to play in the first half. The Blugolds added another first half score with 2:20 left when Nels Fredrickson found Nate Gibson for a 31-yard TD. Gast had his second TD run in the third quarter at the 6:02 mark on a 1-yarder to close out the scoring.
The Blugolds got 219 passing yards from Fredrickson (20-of-30) and Gast rushed 12 times for 73 yards. Derek Sikora had 11 total tackles and Jared Roeker had nine to pace UW-EC in the win as they improved to 2-0.
For IWU, Lucas completed 27 passes (tied for 4th most in an IWU game) for 242 yards and Eric White tied an IWU game record with 15 catches (for 133 yards). Snyder also made nine grabs for 100 yards. Vince Heaton and Damon Banks led IWU (0-2) with 10 tackles each.
September 4
The Illinois Wesleyan football team managed just 247 yards of total offense in dropping the season opener, 13-7, to Simpson in Indianola, Iowa on Sat., Sept. 4. IWU got 78 rushing yards from freshman Marcus Dunlop and senior quarterback Steve Lucas (shown) completed 15 of 27 passes for 110 yards. Junior Ryan Spellman also ran for 72 yards as the Titans amassed 137 yards on the ground. Damon Banks had 12 total tackles and Josh Remer added 10 with a quarterback sack. Simpson got 245 yards passing and 99 more via the rush.
September 2004
Illinois Wesleyan opens its season on Sept. 4 at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. The Storm was 9-2 in 2003, outscored opponents by a 34.7-16.3 margin and lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at St. Norbert, 26-20, in overtime.
2004 Illinois Wesleyan Football Preview, Facts (pdf file)
June 15
Illinois Wesleyan senior wide receiver Eric White has been selected to the preseason Division III All-American team chosen by Street & Smith’s 2004 National College Football Magazine. White set an IWU season record with 1,215 receiving yards. He finished with 74 catches and 14 touchdowns in 2003 and, after three seasons, he ranks third in touchdowns (28) and fourth in scoring (170) in school history. In 2003, he was a third team Division III All-American on both the Football Gazette and the Sports Information Directors teams. He was IWU’s “MVP” on offense and a first team all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin honoree. With his senior year ahead, White is third in career receptions (171) and receiving yards (2,591) and second in receiving touchdowns (28) at IWU.
