Indiana Wesleyan University

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Football 9/7/2023 5:19:00 PM

FOOTBALL PREVIEW: NO. 5 WILDCATS WELCOME VALPO FOR HOME OPENER

Football 9/7/2023 5:19:00 PM

PREVIEW

WEEK 2: Indiana Wesleyan (1-0) vs. Valparaiso (0-1)
The Wildcats open the home portion of the slate and will try to move to 2-0 while Valparaiso will look for its first win of the year.
IWU will play their first night game since the 2021 season.

KICKOFF

ON THE INTERNET

THE SERIES

The all-time series is tied at 1-1. The Wildcats won the first-ever meeting 28-10 in Marion, Ind. Valparaiso won last year's meeting with a narrow 20-17 margin.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Andrew Rode recorded his first win at the helm of the program in fine style two weeks ago. Trailing 7-0 at the end of the first frame, the Wildcats knotted the score at 7-7 just seconds into the second period. That jump started a streak of 56 unanswered points in the victory at Lawrence Tech.
The high-octane offense wasn't the only group to click on all cylinders in the opener. The defense had a scoop and score off a fumble and a pick-six interception return for a touchdown.

WILDCAT LEADERS

Dederrian Williams leads the rushing attack after posting 126 yards on 16 attempts (7.9 ypc) with a pair of touchdowns. He had a long rush of 68 yards. Isaiah Gibbs accounted for 5.3 yards per carry.
Xander Stokes threw for 241 yards and four touchdowns while completing 16-of-21 attempts.
Isaac Smith hauled in three catches for 84 yards while Levi Tidwell had a team-high five receptions for 71 yards with a score. Williams tallied four catches, including two that went for touchdowns.
Clayton Mosher notched a team-high 10 tackles in the season opener while Isaac Abeo had nine stops, including three for loss (two sacks). Neil Campbell posted a team-best six solo tackles.
Wilson Wirebaugh had an interception while Abeo forced fumble and Campbell recovered the fumble.

VALPARAISO LEADERS

Valparaiso was pass heavy last week against nationally-ranked Youngstown State.
Michael Appel Jr. had 29 passes and he completed 17 for 155 yards, including a long of 53. His targets were Solomon Davis and Brandon Jimenez. Each caught four passes for over 50 yards each. Davis hauled in a 53-yard pass from Appel Jr.
Ryan Mann led the rushing attack with 10 attempts and 40 yards with the team's lone touchdown. No other running back had more than three carries in the game.
Patrick Oliva kicked a 33-yard field goal and converted his extra point as well for four points. Evan Matthes has a big leg and it showed with his 45.8-yard average, including a long of 70. He had two punts that sailed over 50 yards.
Defensively, Colin Graves led everyone with eight stops while Evan Annis was right behind him with seven tackles. Both had four solo stops.
Logan Chastain and Mohamed Kamara were in on a sack. Austin Chilton broke up three passes while Franco had two pass breakups.

WHAT TO WATCH

With a high-scoring offense and a tenacious defense, the Wildcats will look at gaining the edge once again in the series.
IWU had a balanced attack in the opener with 11 first downs via the rushing game and 11 with the passing game.
Look to see if the Wildcats can continue their high-scoring attack against a Valparaiso team that gave up over 300 yards on the ground a week ago.

UP NEXT

The nationally-ranked Wildcats hit the road once again as they travel to No. 11 Saint Xavier on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m.
Live video and stats will be available on IWUWildcats.com

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Players Mentioned