BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - For one final time this season, the Illinois Wesleyan University football team will hit the road for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash at Carroll University Saturday, Nov. 9. Game time is scheduled for noon at Schneider Stadium in Waukesha, Wis.
    Illinois Wesleyan makes the 205-mile trip with an even record of 4-4 overall, including a 4-3 CCIW mark. The Titans most recently overcame a double-digit deficit to knock off Augustana College, 29-21, at Tucci Stadium, Nov. 2. Meanwhile, Carroll carries a 4-4 record and 3-4 league standing into Saturday's showdown. The Pioneers saw a two-game win streak snapped by No. 1 ranked North Central College, Nov. 2, as Carroll fell by a final score of 56-3.
    A live stream as well as live stats for Saturday's game will be available through links on the football schedule page of iwusports.com.

JUNGE FOR THREEE: No, sophomore placekicker Kaden Junge was not draining three-pointers inside the Shirk Center as the college basketball season officially got underway this week, but the Mattoon, Ill. native was named the CCIW Special Teams Player of the Week, Nov. 4.
    Junge went a perfect 3-for-3 in field goals, while adding a 2-for-2 showing in PATs against Augie, Nov. 2. He also kicked off seven times for an average of 54.1 yards per kick with one touchback. Junge hit field goals of 27 and 34 yards in the first half to keep the Titans in the game, before his second 27-yarder gave IWU its first lead of the day, 15-14, in the third quarter.

DOWN, NOT OUT: The Titans clawed their way out of an 11-point deficit to top Augustana, Nov. 2. IWU trailed 14-3 in the first quarter before coming back for a 29-21 triumph. It marked the first double-digit comeback by the Titans since the Green and White overcame a 14-0 deficit at Elmhurst Nov. 12, 2022.
In that game, Illinois Wesleyan erased the Bluejays' two-score first-quarter lead with touchdowns in each of the last three quarters. Charlie Hamilton hauled in touchdowns from Ryan Saxe and Jay Lemenager before Ian Kroemer's fourth quarter rushing TD pushed IWU ahead for good as the Titans took home
a 21-17 victory.

BALL HAWKS: Illinois Wesleyan's defense was firing on all cylinders in the Titans' 29-21 triumph over Augustana, Nov. 2. IWU finished with a season-high nine quarterback hurries, while finishing with six pass breakups, four sacks, and seven tackles for loss. Matt Hansen led the effort up front, tallying team-highs of two TFLs, 1.5 sacks, and three QB hurries. Joey DeMaio and Artist Benjamin added two pass breakups apiece. In all, six Titans notched tackles for loss and four tallied sacks.

LOOKING FOR MORE: With a 29-21 win over Augustana, Nov. 2, Illinois Wesleyan surpassed its win total from a season ago and earned its fourth conference win of the season. With four CCIW victories this season, IWU is one win away from matching its 2022 conference win total.

SOMETHING SPECIAL: A bright spot for IWU this season has been the play of its special teams unit through eight games. Illinois Wesleyan has been one of the best in Division III in kick returns, ranking third in the nation with an average return of 29.47 yards. The Titans' ability to gain good field position has  been led by the efforts of returning D3football.com All-American, Jahari Scott. Averaging a kick return of 36.3 yards, Scott leads the CCIW and ranks second nationally. Additionally, he is tied for eighth nationally and first in the league in kickoff return touchdowns. In punt returns, Marco Palaganas is slotted third in the league and 41st nationally with an average return of 7.6 yards.
    On the other side, Matt Hansen has led an IWU kick coverage unit that is 27th nationally with four blocked kicks, 29th in kickoff return defense at 15.32 yards per return, 37th with one blocked punt, and 65th in punt return defense (5.25 yards per return). Individually, Hansen has blocked two kicks good for a tie atop the conference rankings and 13th across Division III.

QBS BEWARE: The Titans' ferocious defense has wreaked havoc in the backfield through the first eight games of the 2024 season. The Green and White is averaging 2.88 sacks per game, the 29th-most in all of Division III and the most of any team in the CCIW. The effort is led by Zach McNees, Matt Hansen, and Josh Hlavacek, all of whom rank in the top-120 individually. McNees, the conference leader, is averaging 1.00 QB takedowns per contest, while Hlavacek and Hansen are tied for 116th at 0.56.
    In conference rankings, IWU is the only school in the CCIW with three players ranked in the top-15 in total sacks. McNees paces the conference with eight QB takedowns. Hlavacek and Hansen are tied for fourth with 4.5 each. Additionally, McNees' 10 TFLs are fourth-most in the league, while Hlavacek sits seventh with 8.5. Hansen is eighth with 7.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

PLAYING THE PIONEERS: The Titans and Pioneers have squared off on the gridiron 47 times since the series began in 1935. Illinois Wesleyan heads into Saturday's showdown with a 28-19 lead in the all-time series but has dropped back-to-back games to Carroll. The series, which began with a 12-6 IWU win in 1935, took place each season from 1955 to 1991. Following a 25-year hiatus, the series picked back up when Carroll rejoined the CCIW in 2016.
Most recently, Illinois Wesleyan spotted Carroll a 21-0 first-quarter lead. The deficit proved too large to overcome as IWU fell, 70-23.

BACK IN WAUKESHA: Illinois Wesleyan eyes its first win at Schneider Stadium since Sept. 29, 2018, as the Titans have dropped the past two road matchups with the Pioneers. Last season, IWU lost a lopsided bout, 70-23, and a heartbreaker Sept. 18, 2021. That game saw IWU charge ahead 19-7, only to have Carroll score three times in the second half. An IWU field goal with three seconds left missed the mark as the Pios stunned the Titans, 34-33.

KEE (MYLES)TONE: Senior Myles Kee needed just over seven minutes to cross over 100 yards receiving at North Park, Oct. 26, as the senior caught first-quarter touchdown passes of 51 and 52 yards to give the Titans an early lead. Kee went on to finish with 127 yards receiving on six catches to go along with his two TDs. It marked his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and the eighth of his career. It was also the third multi-score game of his career.
    Over the course of his four-year career, Kee has hauled in 143 receptions for 1828 receiving yards. He is just 172 yards away from 2000 career receiving yards, which would make him the first Titan receiver to accomplish the feat since Jack Healy accrued 2337 yards receiving from 2016-19.

WINNING TRADITION: Veteran head coach Norm Eash is one of just two active coaches nationally in NCAA Division III with 200-or-more career wins. Eash, who has won 232 games as the head man at his alma mater, ranks first in the country among active Division III head coaches. Across all NCAA divisions, Eash is fifth trailing LSU's Brian Kelly (289), North Carolina's Mack Brown (287), Sam Houston's K.C. Keeler (269), and South Dakota's Bob Neilson (234).

LONGEVITY IN LEADERSHIP: Illinois Wesleyan Head Coach Norm Eash enters the 2024 season, his 38th at the helm of the Titans, as the longest tenured head coaches in all of college football across the NCAA. Notably, of the most experienced coaches nationally, Eash is the only one with 33+ years of experience coming at one institution.

ON THE HORIZON: After its trip north, Illinois Wesleyan will wrap up the 2024 campaign with a Senior Day game against top-ranked North Central College Saturday, Nov. 16, at Tucci Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will see the Titans recognize their senior class prior to game time.