MARION, Ind. – No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan football continued to showcase their dominance with a 52-14 victory against Saint Francis in their home opener on Saturday night. The Wildcats have scored over 50 points in both of the wins so far this season.

 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Location: Marion, Ind. | Wildcat Football Stadium
• Records: IWU - 2-0 | USF - 0-1
• NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU - #6 | USF - Unranked

FIRST QUARTER

• The Wildcats marched down the field to open the game, but a stalled out drive resulted in a 30-yard field goal to go up 3-0.
• Isaac Smith capped off a 12 play, 87 yard drive with a 14-yard TD catch from Kyle Antoine.
• Levi Tidwell only needed one play on the next drive to catch a 52-yard touchdown from Antoine to extend the lead to 17-0.
• On the ensuing USF drive, Neil Campbell returned an interception 31 yards to the house to make it 24-0 Wildcats at the end of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• Defensive penalties allowed USF to drive down to the field before failing to convert on 4^th down.
• Ryan Whitwell and Antoine lead the offense on a 6-play drive that concluded with an explosive 47-yard touchdown reception by Whitwell.
• A three-and-out by Saint Francis resulted in another touchdown drive by the Wildcats, this time off a Roosevelt Cage punch in from the goal line.
• The Cougars got on the scoreboard for the first time, making it 38-7.
• Campbell got his hands on his second interception of the night just before halftime to secure the 31-point margin at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• Both offenses were held in check halfway through the third quarter.
• USF reached paydirt with just under 5 minutes left to narrow the margin to 38-14.
• A methodical 11 play, 70 yard drive by IWU saw Whitwell earn his second score of the day to make it 45-14 heading into the final frame.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Short field position on Indiana Wesleyan's first drive of the 4^th quarter saw Cage score from 22 yards out.
• Jordan Hill snagged the Wildcats' third interception of the night in their own endzone to prevent a USF score.
• The defense held strong in the final minutes of play and the offense ran out the fourth quarter clock for the 52-14 victory.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

• Kyle Antoine completed 19-of-26 passes for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns on the evening. His touchdown tosses went to Ryan Whitwell, Isaac Smith and Levi Tidwell.
• Smith surpassed the century mark with 121 yards on 6 receptions. Tidwell was explosive with four catches for 88 yards.
• Cage led the ground game with 96 yards and 2 touchdowns with his 11 attempts.
• Whitwell finished with 86 yards rushing and 53 yards receiving. He had two touchdowns on the night, one on the ground and one through the air.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

• Luke Bays led the way with 10 total tackles, while Drake Deshetsky followed close behind with 7.
• Anthony Cheesebourough and Deven Arevalo each had two sacks.
• Overall, the defense had three interceptions. Neil Campbell had two with a touchdown, while Hill had one.
• Vance Sheppert locked down on the outside with three pass breakups.

SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS

• Josh Clifton made his lone 30-yard field goal attempt and converted all six of his extra points. Freshman Jack Doty took the field for the first time this season to send his PAT attempt through the uprights.  
• Nolan Foley had four punts for 120 yards with a long of 51. He placed one inside the 20-yard line.
• Myles Cox returned two punts for 21 yards and two kickoffs for 40 yards.

STATS COMPARISON

• IWU posted 30 first downs compared to 19 for USF. IWU held the advantage on the ground with 196 yards for the Wildcats and just 93 for the Cougars.
• IWU total 551 yards of total offense on 73 plays and held USF to 342 yards on 71 plays.
• Indiana Wesleyan converted a perfect 4-4 trips to the red zone, while Saint Francis failed on 3 of their 4 attempts.

WHAT THE WIN MEANS

• The victory pushes IWU's record to 2-0 on the season.
• The Wildcats will be undefeated when they square off against Valparaiso next week on the road.
• IWU leads the all-time series 2-1, but have yet to gain a road win.

RODE PERSPECTIVE

• "It was a great team effort tonight," said Andrew Rode, Head Football Coach. "It was a great team effort tonight. We moved the ball well on offense and got off the field fast on defense. Really proud of the way the team responded to some tough moments in the game."

LOOKING FORWARD

• No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan hit the road against Valparaiso on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7:30PM Eastern.
• Links for video and stats will be available at IWUWildcats.com.

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