MARION, Ind. – No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan football cruised to a 26-0 victory over Madonna Saturday afternoon behind tremendous performances from Dederrian Williams and Levi Tidwell.

 

OVERALL

• The win extends the Wildcats' record to 7-0 on the year.

FIRST QUARTER

• After not finding the end-zone the through the early part of the first quarter, the defense stepped up and forced a punt by the visitors. IWU took possession on the 30-yard line.
• It didn't take long for the Wildcats to strike paydirt. Dederrian Williams took the handoff and galloped 70 yards for the lead, his longest run of the season and the 4th-longest in program history.
• Neither team could get anything else going offensively the rest of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• IWU gained possession late in the first quarter and promptly got things going. Xander Stokes hit Levi Tidwell on third-and-14 for 42 yards. ON the ensuing play, the dyad connected again for an 11-yard gain.
• The drive stalled on the 12-yard line, but Josh Clifton ripped a 29-yard field goal for a 10-0 advantage with 12:25 to play before halftime.
• On third-and-nine, Isaac Abeo stepped up and sacked Max Morris for a 13-yard loss, forcing a punt.
• Special teams then came up big, earning a safety on a blocked punt for a 12-0 advantage with 8:34 to play before halftime.
• After receiving the ball at the 39-yard line, Williams rushed for two yards. Stokes found Tidwell for 17 yards, before going back to the ground game. Williams found the end-zone at the 7:30 mark for an 18-0 lead. Clifton's extra point pushed the score to 19-0.
• With less than four minutes to play, Abeo and Ammen Hicks put the visitors behind the chains. Madonna ended up having to punt three plays later.
• The Wildcats had opportunities late in the half, but an interception ended the drive, leaving it 19-0 at the break.
• At the break, Williams had already rushed 14 times for 182 yards with a pair of scores, while Tidwell had hauled in five passes for 81 yards.
• Defensively, Abeo led the way with 2.5 sacks while Anthony Cheesebourough had a team-high six tackles.

THIRD QUARTER

• After not converting fourth down twice in the third quarter, the Wildcats got back on track. Facing third-and-11, Stokes found Tidwell for 11 yards. He then rushed for a first down a play later. After Williams rushed for seven yards, Stokes hit Tony Myers for 42 yards to the 10-yard line.
• Williams continued his outstanding day with another 10-yard run for a score. The drive covered 69 yards on seven plays for a 26-0 margin.
• With the defense looking at second-and-seven, Deven Arevalo stepped in front of a pass, intercepting it and giving the ball back to IWU with 41 seconds to go in the frame.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Wildcats' drive stalled on third-and-seven, forcing a punt from Nolan Foley.
• IWU had a promising drive moments later, but Stokes was intercepted at the 19-yard line.
• Neither team could find the end-zone the rest of the way as the Wildcats had no issues in maintaining the lead.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

• Tidwell hauled in 10 passes for 175 yards, while Myers had three catches for 50 yards.
• On the ground, Williams had himself a day, carrying the ball 23 times for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He has rushed for over 220 yards in back-to-back games.
• Stokes completed 19-of-37 passes for 243 yards.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

• Daniel Schager led the team with eight total tackles. 
• Cheesebourough totaled seven stops and a sack, while Luke Bays added six tackles.
• Abeo had 2.5 sacks, resulting in 24 yards.
• Arevalo had the team's lone turnover with his interception, while Deshetsky blocked the punt leading to the Madonna saftey.
• Clayton Mosher and Gabe Long each had a pass break-up for the day.

SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS

• Josh Clifton made his lone field goal try, while also averaging 55 yards per kick-off.
• Adam Dunson had the team's lone kick-off return for 22 yards.
• Foley had six punts on the afternoon, placing one inside the 20. Dunson returned three punts for 25 yards, while Mosher had a punt return of 15 yards.

STATS COMPARISON

• The Wildcats totaled 16 first downs compared to nine by Madonna.
• The team rattled off 247 rushing yards (6.9 per attempt) compared to 94 (2.8 per attempt) to the visitors.
• Stokes through for 243 yards, while the defense limited the opposition to 80 yards.
• Overall, IWU registered 490 yards compared to 174 by Madonna.
• IWU was 6-19 on third downs while Madonna was 3-17.

WHAT THE WIN MEANS

• The win keeps the Wildcats among the ranks of the undefeated.
• The Wildcats head to the University of Saint Francis in two weeks. The team is 1-1 on the road in the all-time series, having lost by one point in 2019 before winning by two points in 2021.

RODE PERSPECTIVE

• "Outstanding performance by our defense," said Andrew Rode, Head Football Coach. "They had a great week of preparation, and it led to a shutout. Those guys continue to play well as a unit."

CHEESEBOUROUGH PERSPECTIVE

• "From a defensive standpoint, I feel we performed well to keep Madonna to 0 points on the scoreboard," said Anthony Cheesebourough. "We know what our defense is capable of, and that was our goal coming into the game. I was personally able to have one of my best performances, and I'm looking forward to getting better in the coming games. Overall as a team, we showed a lot of improvement, but we are far from our goal this season."

LOOKING FORWARD

• The Wildcats have an off week before returning to action.
• The team hits the road for a showdown against the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1:00 p.m.
• Links for tickets, video and stats will be available at IWUWildcats.com.

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