MARION, Ind. – No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan football got November started with a home game against Concordia on Saturday. The Wildcats picked up their eighth win of the season with a 48-24 win over the Cardinals, earning just their second win in program history against CU. Roosevelt Cage took advantage of his first start at running back with 222 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns.


 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Location: Marion, Ind. | Wildcat Football Field
• Records: IWU: 8-1 | CU: 4-5
• NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU - #3 | CU – Unranked

FIRST QUARTER

• The first eight plays of the game resulted in three defensive takeaways. Clayton Mosher forced a fumble on the opening drive. Concordia picked off Kyle Antoine on the very next play, and Neil Campbell gave the ball back to the Wildcats with an interception in the endzone.
• Roosevelt Cage got the Wildcats on the scoreboard first after breaking free for a 67-yard touchdown.
• After a three-and-out was forced by the defense, IWU drove down the field 76 yards and Cage found his way to the endzone for the second time from two-yards out.
• Caiden Thomas connected on a 40-yard field-goal fpr Concordia to make it 14-3 to end the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• Antoine was sacked in the red zone on the following drive, bringing Josh Clifton on for a field-goal from 30 yards to increase the lead to 17-3.
• Colby Kohmesche found an opening on a QB keeper and took it to the house 72 yards for CU's first touchdown on the game.
• After a short kickoff, IWU made it a two-score game at 24-10 as Isaac Smith fell on the ball in the endzone after a Elijah Gibbs fumble at the goal line.
• Concordia responded with a 73-yard catch and run from Kohmesche to Jordan Garcia to narrow the margin to 24-17 at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• Caiden Thomas missed a field goal on CU's first possession after halftime.
• A Josh Clifton field goal from 21-yards out was the only score of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Kyle Antoine found Isaac Smith for a red-zone score to begin the fourth quarter making it 34-17 Wildcats.
• Gabe Long recorded the first sack of the game for the Wildcats in another defense stop for IWU.
• Roosevelt Cage scored his third touchdown of the day from six yards out to extend the lead to 41-17.
• Garrett Hathaway got to the CU quarterback for a sack to end their following drive.
• Elijah Gibbs punched it in on the ground for a two-yard touchdown for the final IWU score.
• Concordia drove down 75-yards for a Cardinal score just before the end of the game to make the final score 48-24.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

• Roosevelt Cage led the way offensively for IWU with 222 yards on 28 carries for three touchdowns.
• Kyle Antoine went 15-for-27 for 184 yards and a touchdown.
• Isaac Smith was on the receiving end of a team-high five passes for 71 yards. Levi Tidwell finished with three catches for 44 yards.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

• Luke Bays led the team with 10 total tackles.
• Clayton Mosher had nine tackles and also forced a fumble and came up with the recovery on the opening drive of the game.
• Neil Campbell finished with eight tackles and snagged an interception for his third of the season.
• Garrett Hathaway and Gabe Long each recorded as sack, while Vance Sheppert had three pass breakups.

SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS

• Josh Clifton connected on both his field goal attempts and went 6-6 on PAT's.
• Clifton also averaged 58 yards on 9 kickoff attempts with two touchbacks.
• Jaden Downs averaged 38.3 yards on his four punts with a long of 43.
• Myles Cox totaled 55 yards on four punt returns and 50 yards on three kickoff returns.

STATS COMPARISON

• The Wildcats totaled 26 first downs compared to 15 by Concordia.
• The team rattled off 307 rushing yards (6.8 per attempt) compared to 139 (4.2 per attempt) to the visitors.
• Overall, IWU registered 491 yards compared to 399 by CU.
• IWU was 5-12 on third downs while Concordia was 4-18.

WHAT THE WIN MEANS

• IWU avenges their lone loss of the regular season last year and take a one-game lead in the MSFA Mideast standings.

LOOKING FORWARD

• The Wildcats hits the road next week as they travel to Siena Heights on November 9.
• Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00PM
• Links for tickets, video, and stats are available on IWUWildcats.com.

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