BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan football team lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs, 28-0, to Case Western Reserve University at a rainy, then snowy Tucci Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 18.

The Titans' season ends with a 9-2 record while Case will go on to face No. 2 ranked Mount Union next Saturday. The Raiders were 21-0 winners over Washington & Lee.

"I thought we had a really good shot early in the game when we moved the ball inside the 20 and came away with nothing, which is a big key to the ball game" said IWU head coach Norm Eash in a post-game interview. "I tell our players all the time that we have to make plays and we left some plays out there today while their players to their credit made some plays."

IWU saw the majority of the 185 total yards come on the ground (112 rushing, 73 passing) while CWR picked up 272 total yards (197 rushing, 75 passing) in a game that saw light rain turn into a driving snow during the halftime intermission.

Junior running back Morgan Alexander set the single-season rushing attempts record (247) with 30 rushes for 119 yards, which brings his season total to 1,076, the second-most in a single-season at IWU (behind only 1,143 by Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore in 2016).
Also, senior linebacker Jordan Hassan found his way to the top of the IWU record books with six solo tackles on the day, breaking the single-season solo tackles record with 76, eclipsing the old record of 72 set by Sean Garvey in 2014. Hassan led the Titans with 16 total tackles while Justin Krzeczkowski and linebacker Josh Akin each had nine. Krzeczkowski also had a fumble recovery for IWU.

A scoreless first quarter saw the Titans fail to convert on field position in Spartan territory with their first drive stalling out at the Case Western 35 while putting Case Western deep in their own territory at their own seven yard line. A fumble recovered by the Titan defense at the CWR 21 yard line would set IWU in prime position to take an early lead before a fumble on their first offensive play gave the ball right back to the Spartans.

Illinois Wesleyan carried their best drive of the game over to the second quarter, marching down to the Case Western 17 yard line, with the possession ending with a turnover on downs and the third Titan drive to end in Spartan territory. A blocked punt by Case Western with just over three minutes before halftime gave Case Western the ball in Illinois Wesleyan territory with the game still deadlocked at 0-0.

Spartan quarterback Rob Cuda would manage to engineer a seven-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown with 1:31 remaining before halftime winding up being the only score of the first half.

The second half opened with Case Western turning the ball over on downs in Illinois Wesleyan territory before the Titans would turn the ball back to the Spartans on the IWU side of the field. CWR would utilize the field position as running back Aaron Aguilar, who finished with 136 yards on 27 carries ith three rushing TDs, would scamper 33 yards for a touchdown and make the score 14-0 in favor of Case Western following the four-play, 42-yard drive that took only 1:19.

Case Western tacked on 14 points in the fourth quarter, scoring on Aguilar's third rushing touchdown of the game early in the quarter before tacking on one final rushing touchdown with 3:19 left in the game. The Spartans were able to do what opponents had not been able to do against IWU - the Titans had allowed only one rushing touchdown all season prior to allowing four on Saturday.

Sophomore quarterback Brandon Bauer completed eight of 25 passes for 73 yards as Liam Keffer made four of those receptions for 53 yards.

PLAYOFFS: The Titans are now 3-6 in NCAA Division III playoff action (2-3 at home). A look at previous playoff appearances:
2017 (0-1)
Lost to Case Western Reserve, 28-0
2013 (0-1)
Lost to Wartburg, 41-7
2011 (0-1)
Lost to Monmouth, 33-27, 3OT
2009 (1-1)
Beat Wabash, 41-35, 2 OT; Lost at Wis.-Whitewater, 45-7
1996 (1-1)
Won at Albion, 23-20; Lost at Mount Union, 49-14
1992 (1-1)
Beat Aurora, 21-12; Lost at Mount Union, 49-27