MARION, Ind. - Ryan Whitwell shouldered the load Saturday, and No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan cashed in for a share of the MSFA Mideast Championship and an automatic berth into the NAIA Football Championship Series. Whitwell broke his own IWU single-game record with 47 rushing attempts and recorded his third 200-yard rushing game of the season and fourth of his career, both IWU program records. The Wildcats beat the University of Saint Francis, 21-10, at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday, earning their fifth-straight conference title. Simon Vinson hauled in two touchdown passes from Arjun Lothe, and the IWU defense held the Cougars to 161 total yards, including only 24 on the ground. The Wildcats improve to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in MSFA Mideast play and will chase the outright league title in next week's regular-season finale.
THE ESSENTIALS
- Location: Marion, Ind. | Wildcat Stadium
- Records: IWU: 9-1 (4-0 MFSA Mideast) | USF: 8-2 (3-1 MFSA Mideast)
- NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU: #7 | USF: Unranked
FIRST QUARTER
- USF began at its own 22 following a 12-yard DJ White kickoff return, but a holding call wiped out a 10-yard Chris Mullen scramble, and Noah McPeek's 42-yard punt was downed at the IWU 43 after three plays.
- The Wildcats answered with a patient 10-play, 57-yard march. Lothe hit Whitwell for 15 yards, a pass interference flag on Christian Peterson tacked on another 15, and Lothe found Grant Irwin for 13 yards on 3rd-and-14. Whitwell then moved the chains on 4th-and-1 with a 2-yard run and bulled in from a yard out at 8:46, making it 7-0.
- The Cougars went three-and-out again, as a pass was dropped and Azariah Wallace was stopped for no gain on 3rd-and-2, and McPeek's 29-yard punt went out of bounds at the IWU 38.
- Dede Person ripped off runs of 8 and 7 yards, and Lothe hit Vinson for 8 yards on 4th-and-2, but IWU came up short on 4th-and-7 at the USF 28 when Lothe's pass to Irwin gained only 4, giving the Cougars the ball at their own 24.
- USF punted again after a QB hurry by Arlondo Sheets on 3rd-and-6, and Leo Morrow brought McPeek's 32-yard kick back 5 yards to the IWU 45.
- Lothe completed a pass to Whitwell for 5 yards, and Whitwell added an 8-yard run, but Lothe lost the ball while taking a 6-yard loss, and Landon Drennan recovered it for USF at the IWU 44.
- The turnover produced nothing for Saint Francis. A 15-yard Mullen run was erased by a holding penalty, and USF sat at the 50 facing 2nd-and-16 when the quarter ended.
SECOND QUARTER
- Two incompletions and a 35-yard McPeek punt ended the Cougars' possession, and Morrow fair caught it at the IWU 15.
- IWU then put together a 14-play, 85-yard drive that consumed 6:04. Whitwell ran for 10, 7 and 8 yards, and Lothe found Drew Dutton for 16 on 3rd-and-7. The Wildcats converted another fourth down on a 10-yard Whitwell run (4th-and-2), and Whitwell added a 12-yard burst to the USF 10. Lothe then lofted a 13-yard touchdown to Vinson at 8:33 for a 14-0 lead.
- Kaven Tislow returned a short kickoff 15 yards to the USF 38, but the Cougars went three-and-out again, as Jackson Snyder broke up a pass on 3rd-and-9, and McPeek's 56-yard punt was downed at the IWU 5.
- Person carried for 10 and 7 yards to get IWU out of the shadow of its goal line, but the drive stalled, and Aidan Gansert punted 34 yards on 4th-and-1 after a timeout, with the kick downed at the USF 42.
- Saint Francis finally found some life. Mullen connected with Tislow for 38 yards on 1st-and-20 after a holding penalty on White, Phillip Allen dropped Braylon Morris for a 5-yard loss, and Mullen scrambled for 10 yards on 3rd-and-15, setting up Austin Deleon's 42-yard field goal at 3:14 and a 14-3 score.
- IWU used a 13-play, 75-yard drive to take the momentum back, with Whitwell carrying eight times and Person adding two more. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness call on IWU was offset by a USF roughing-the-passer flag and a pass interference call on McKale Woodson, and Lothe hit Irwin for 11 yards to the USF 6. After a USF timeout, Lothe hit Vinson from 6 yards out with one second left, making it 21-3.
- Tislow returned the ensuing kickoff 17 yards, but the clock expired.
THIRD QUARTER
- Dutton gave the Wildcats a lift by returning the opening kickoff 28 yards to the IWU 36. Whitwell ran for 6, 13 and 4 yards (a 5-yard run was wiped out by a holding penalty), but Person lost 2 and Lothe's 3rd-and-12 pass to Braxton Myers fell incomplete, and Gansert's 27-yard punt was returned 26 yards by White to the IWU 48.
- The Cougars gained a single yard, as Garrett Hathaway pressured Mullen into an incompletion on 2nd-and-9, and McPeek punted 26 yards to the IWU 21.
- Whitwell lost a yard and then gained 5, and Lothe's pass to Blake Brumbaugh fell incomplete on 3rd-and-6, forcing a Gansert punt of 29 yards that was downed at the USF 46.
- Saint Francis finally cracked the end zone, using runs of 10 and 3 yards by Wallace and a 14-yard completion to White on 3rd-and-7 before Mullen found White again on 3rd-and-16 for a 33-yard touchdown at 6:00, cutting the lead to 21-10.
- Person returned the kickoff 18 yards, and Lothe fired a 20-yard completion to Brumbaugh to move IWU into USF territory, but the drive ended with a Gansert punt of 30 yards that was downed at the USF 8.
- USF crept to its own 33 as the quarter wound down, helped by a 10-yard completion to Morris and a 15-yard pass interference penalty on Eric Porter.
FOURTH QUARTER
- The Cougars punted 29 yards on 4th-and-9, and Morrow fair caught it at the IWU 38.
- A Whitwell 11-yard run plus a 15-yard face mask penalty on Joe Nemecek pushed IWU to the USF 36, but Brumbaugh lost 2 yards, and a 4th-and-3 pass to Whitwell lost a yard, turning the ball over on downs at the USF 30.
- Mullen ran for 10 yards, hit Morris for 14 and found Tislow for 23 yards to the IWU 27, but the drive collapsed from there. A Phillip Allen and Jabin Barnes sack was erased by a holding penalty, Barnes then dropped Mullen for an 11-yard loss, and Connor Yates sacked him on 3rd-and-29. McPeek punted 24 yards on 4th-and-30, and Morrow fair caught it at the IWU 23.
- IWU closed the game with a 16-play, 59-yard drive that took 8:23, with Whitwell carrying 12 times and Person adding 5 and 2 yards. Whitwell passed the 200-yard mark with a 3-yard run to the IWU 45 on his 40th carry, and USF burned all three timeouts. His final carry, a 10-yard run to the USF 14, came with 1:56 left, and the Wildcats kneeled out the remaining time.
OFFENSIVE LEADERS
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS
TEAM COMPARISON
- Total Offense: IWU 410 yards (277 rush, 133 pass); USF 161 yards (24 rush, 137 pass)
- First Downs: IWU 32; USF 9
- Turnovers: IWU 1 (1 fumble lost); USF 0
- Sacks: IWU 2 (12 yards) on USF; USF 0 on IWU
- Penalties: IWU 7 for 64 yards; USF 8 for 95 yards
- Time of Possession: IWU 38:55; USF 21:05
UP NEXT
- The Wildcats will chase the outright league title in next week's regular-season finale on the road at Lawrence Tech at 1:00 p.m.
- Live video and stats will be available on IWUWildcats.com.
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