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Natalyia Stallings stretching with the ball against Marian April 19, 2026
Audrey Peterson
6
ROCKFORD ROCKFORD
20
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU
ROCKFORD ROCKFORD
6
Final
20
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ROCKFORD ROCKFORD 6 0 0 0 6
IWU Ill. Wesleyan 0 14 6 0 20

Game Recap: Women's Flag Football |

One Up, One Down for Flag Football in Home Triangular

Titans best Regents, fall to Sabres

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University flag football team split its contests against Rockford University and Marian University inside Tucci Stadium Sunday, April 19. The Titans (9-5) opened the day with a 20-6 victory over Rockford (3-7) before falling, 38-12, to Marian (6-3).

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 20, Rockford 6
Remaining undefeated at home, IWU opened the day downing the Regents (3-7) for the second time this season. The victory guaranteed a winning season for Titans in their inaugural year of competition. 

Freshman Maylin Nunez (Chicago, Ill.-Taft) led the offense with 156 passing yards on an 18-of-36 showing, throwing for three touchdowns and one interception. She added 83 yards on the ground across 12 attempts. Freshman Emma Caniglia (Addison, Ill.-Addision) added 27 passing yards on a 6-of-10 day, and tallied nine rushing yards on six carries.

A solid wide receiver room saw freshman Gabby Grasser (McHenry, Ill.-McHenry Community) narrowly finish with the team-lead, taking four receptions for a total of 54 yards. Freshman Layah Glover (Gurnee, Ill.-Round Lake) turned in a team-best eight catches for 53 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Natalyia Stallings (Rockford, Ill.-Guilford) finished with six catches for 51 yards. 

Freshman Zoey Vasquez (Independence, Mo.-Williams Chrisman) guided the Green and White defense with two interceptions returned for a total of 27 yards, while adding three flag pulls. Freshman Nakilah Mason (Chicago, Ill.-Chicago Military Academy) pulled a team-best six flags, including one for a loss of four yards. Freshman Keilyn Navarro (Glendale Heights, Ill.-Conant) totaled two sacks and three TFLs for a total of 12 yards. 

Punting into a strong wind gave the Regents favorable field possession, and the visitors capitalized with a nine-yard passing touchdown to crack the scoreboard first at the 4:46 mark in the first quarter. A fumble on the one-point PAT left the score at 6-0.

Grasser hauled in a 19-yard pass from Nunez to move the chains on third down, and putting the ball in RU's territory. With a fresh set of downs, Illinois Wesleyan was unable to score, as the turnover on downs gave the Regents the ball on their own 27 yard line. 

Illinois Wesleyan's defense forced a quick three-and-out. With RU kicking into the hefty breeze, IWU started its drive at its own 39 yard line. After a Nunez rush got an easy first down, the quarterback connected with Stallings for a 14-yard completion. 

Nunez found Grasser and Glover for back-to-back completions for a total of nine yards to give IWU first and goal. The ensuing play featured Glover leaping up to snag a pass over her defender, evening the score at 6-6 with an 11-yard touchdown. An unsuccessful one-point PAT pushed the score to an even 6-6 with 8:47 remaining in the first half.

Nunez hit Grasser for a successful fourth down conversion to set the Titans up at the nine yard line with just over a minute remaining in the half. With time dwindling down in the second quarter, Nunez connected with Glover in the back of the endzone all by herself for a score. A successful two-point conversion followed, as Nunez sent a dart to freshman Simone Dyer (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney Young), toe tapping at the front pylon to give the Green and White a 14-6 lead entering halftime. 

Vasquez picked off a pass by the Regents on the opening drive of the second half, and IWU made the visitors pay on the following possession. Maneuvering through two defenders trying to sack her, Nunez once again found Glover for their third touchdown of the day, this time coming on a 14-yard pass. Unable to score on the one-point PAT upped the home team's cushion to 20-6 with 8:50 to play in the third. 

A Rockford penalty forced a turnover on downs, giving IWU optimal field possession, but the Regents came up with an interception in the endzone. 

RU punted at the end of the third quarter, pinning the Titans at their own six-yard line. The looming endzone did not phase Nunez, as she weaved through traffic for a 55-yard rush, setting up first and goal for the home team. A fumble and sack put a damper on Illinois Wesleyan's scoring opportunity.

Vazquez thwarted Rockford's scoring hopes, snagging her second interception of the day, returning the ball 25 yards. The pick secured the win for the Titans, as they would go on to take it 20-6.

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 12, Marian 38
Illinois Wesleyan was handed its first loss inside Tucci Stadium, as the Titans had no answer for the crafty Marian offense, dropping the battle with the Sabres, 38-12. 

Hampered by harsh wind gusts, Caniglia finished with 51 yards after completing 13 passes on 29 attempts. The Addison, Ill. product threw for two touchdowns, but finished with two interceptions. Nunez added a 6-of-14 showing for a total of 39 yards, but was burned by three INTs. Nunez ran for 26 yards on seven attempts. 

Grasser turned three catches in for 31 yards and her first career touchdown. Freshmen Lily Greenfield (Lindenhurst, Ill.-Lakes Community) finished with a team-best five catches, while Deanna Cirebea (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) tallied four. 

Freshman Aishah Smith (Rockford, Ill.-Guilford) led the defense with six flag pulls. Glover and Stallings each tallied four, while four Titans turned in one TFL. Stallings also added an interception to her stat line. 

A stiff wind limited Marian's punt attempt on the opening drive to 14 yards, giving IWU the ball 27 yards out from the endzone. Caniglia connected with Greenfield for a three-yard catch, and followed by keeping the ball herself for five yards to gain the first down. Caniglia threw a perfect dime to Nunez in the endzone for a 13-yard score to get the Green and White on the board first. An unsuccessful one-point PAT put the Titans ahead, 6-0, with 9:05 to play in the first quarter.

Stallings picked off a pass and took it 21 yards, setting the offense up in the red zone to end the first quarter. The Titans made quick work to begin the second. Caniglia found Grasser for a 13-yard score, and the two paired up again on the following play. Grasser snagged a two-yard pass for her first career touchdown, and after a one-point PAT was unsuccessful, IWU went ahead 12-0 with 13:16 remaining in the first half.

Marian answered right back with a 59-yard receiving touchdown, and a successful one-point PAT cut the deficit to five, 12-7, with 12:31 left until halftime.

The rest of the game was all in favor of the Sabres, who would cruise to take down the Titans, 38-12.

The Green and White will close out its inaugural season with a doubleheader against North Park Saturday, April 25. The Titans will take on the Vikings at 1 and 2:30 p.m. inside Tucci Stadium.
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