Box Score KENOSHA, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan football team improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2002 with a 42-16 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win at Carthage on Oct. 3.

The Titans jumped ahead in the first few minutes of the game, scoring on the second play of the game when Chris Messina caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from senior Kraig Ladd. Sophomore Michael Fenger added the point-after to give IWU a 7-0 lead at 14:05.
On the first Carthage drive, Messina returned a blocked Tyler Funk punt 16 yards for a touchdown. Fenger's kick was good, and the Titans led, 14-0, at 12:32.
Senior Jack Scalcucci caught a 14-yard TD pass from Ladd midway through the second period and Mike Kotz caught a pass from Brien Rooney for a two-point conversion to give Illinois Wesleyan a 22-0 lead at 7:54.

The Red Men got on the board with a 36-yard field goal by Funk at 4:29 second period, making it a 22-3 game at halftime.
Scalcucci caught a pair of touchdown passes from Ladd in the third quarter to give the Titans a 35-3 margin. The first catch in the period was a 36-yarder at 9:28 and the second a 20-yarder at 5:39. Carthage's Chris Schulz caught a 40-yard TD pass from Trevor Beazley with 46 seconds remaining in the period to make it a 35-9 game, and Nick Merchut pulled in an 18-yard TD grab at 10:56 fourth quarter to cut the lead to 35-16. Illinois Wesleyan closed out the scoring with a 41-yard scoring pass from Rooney to Scalcucci (his fourth TD reception) at 4:36 of the fourth period that ended the scoring.

Senior linebacker Nick Nikolich had eight tackles including a sack for -11 yards, while Ryan Gresko had six total tackles and Roman Hunter and Mike Ammirati each had four stops. Neal Loftus made two interceptions for 15 return yards.

In the game, Illinois Wesleyan rolled up 495 total offensive yards, 154 rushing and 341 passing, while Carthage managed only 183 total yards, 10 on the ground and 173 in the air. Ladd completed 21-of-28 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns. On the receiving end, Scalcucci caught 10 passes for 169 yards and the four TDs and Messina made eight grabs for 116 yards. Junior Eli Williams rushed for 76 yards on 19 carries. 

The Titans look to go 5-0 for the first time since 2000 when they host Millikin at 1:30 p.m. on Oct, 10 in the annual Homecoming meeting.