ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Junior running back
Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore ran back a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and added a 55 yard touchdown rush as the No. 16-nationally ranked Illinois Wesleyan football team beat Augustana 21-7 at Lindburg Stadium in Rock Island on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The Titans remain unbeaten on the year and run their record to 6-0 and 3-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the CCIW. Ill. Wesleyan has now started 6-0 for the fourth time in five years, and leads the Vikings 43-37-1 in the all-time series that dates back to 1917.
IWU was limited to only 10 first downs on the day, and were outgained by Augustana in total yardage 284-271. Sophomore quarterback
Jack Warner, who completed 13 of 21 passes on the day for 106 yards, opened the scoring with a 15 yard touchdown pass to senior
Andrew Javorka to take an early 7-0 lead on the Titans second drive of the game. Javorka would finish the day with 20 yards receiving on two catches.
Following an Augustana touchdown to tie the game at seven, Shoemaker-Gilmore broke free on the ensuing kickoff going 93 yards to paydirt to let IWU immediately regain the lead. The kickoff return is the fourth longest in school history, trailing current IWU teammate
Artie Checchin (100 yards), Bill Alkire (99 yards), and Gerald Bradley (95 yards). Shoemaker-Gilmore would then score the only points of the second half, gaining 55 yards of his team high 75 while finding the endzone to put the Titans up 21-7.
Senior
Michael Kelley went three-for-three on extra points, adding to his school record for career PAT's and now trails Brian Klesath by 14 points for third-most in IWU career history.
Defensively, junior
Sean Garvey led the Titans with 18 total tackles while
Luke Roth had 12.
Will James had five tackles and one sack of Viking quarterback Sam Frasco and senior
Tyrell Bolden had one interception for IWU. Frasco, who came into the contest averaging 389.2 total offense yards per contest, was shut down by the Titan defense and held to just 131 total yards.
What's Next?Illinois Wesleyan hits the road again next week with a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin contest at Elmhurst at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. The Bluejays were 24-14 losers at North Park on Saturday.
