JOLIET, Ill. - Indiana Wesleyan Football hits the road Saturday to face St. Francis (Ill.) at Joliet Memorial Stadium, looking to build on a season-opening win. The Wildcats rode a heavy dose of Ryan Whitwell and Dede Person to a 38-31 victory over No. 8 Dordt in Week 0, while St. Francis (Ill.) dropped its opener and will look to find its offensive footing against an IWU defense that forced a turnover and came up with two pass breakups. IWU has never lost to St. Francis (Ill.), winning all three previous meetings between the two programs.


THE ESSENTIALS

• #9 Indiana Wesleyan University at #8 University of St. Francis (Ill.)
• Location: Joliet, Ill. | Joliet Memorial Stadium
• Kickoff: 12:00 PM ET
• Records: IWU: 1-0 | USF: 0-1
• NAIA Top-25: IWU - #9 | USF - Unranked

HOW TO FOLLOW

• Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/@usffightingsaints/streams  
• Live Stats: https://iwuwildcats.com/sidearmstats/football/summary  

 
THE SERIES

• Indiana Wesleyan leads the all-time series against St. Francis (Ill.) 3-0, most recently defeating the Saints 65-31 in Marion on October 4, 2025.

IWU TEAM STATS

• IWU opened the season with a 38-31 win over No. 8 Dordt, piling up 561 total yards (329 rushing, 232 passing).
• The Wildcats leaned on the ground game behind Ryan Whitwell, who alone outgained St. Francis (Ill.)'s entire offense from Week 1.
• Defensively, IWU logged 62 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 pass breakups in the opener.

WILDCAT LEADERS | 2026 SEASON STATS

• Arjun Lothe completed 19 of 30 passes (63.3%) for 232 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the season-opening win.
• Ryan Whitwell exploded for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns on 36 carries, while Dede Person added 91 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 attempts.
• Blake Brumbaugh led all receivers with 5 catches for 105 yards. Simon Vinson and Braxton Myers each hauled in 4 catches, for 35 and 54 yards respectively.
• Terry Sylvester paced the defense with 14 tackles. Connor Yates and Garrett Boling each logged a tackle for loss.
• Josh Clifton went 1-of-2 on field goals with a long of 29 and converted all 5 PAT attempts.
• Drew Dutton returned 5 kickoffs for 74 yards, and Leo Morrow added a punt return for 17 yards. 

USF TEAM STATS

• St. Francis (Ill.) managed just 120 total yards (14 rushing, 106 passing) in a season-opening loss to Illinois State, ranked No. 4 in NCAA FCS.
• The Saints' ground game struggled out of the gate, netting only 14 yards on 37 carries as a team.
• Defensively, St. Francis (Ill.) totaled 55 tackles in Week 1.

 
SAINTS LEADERS | 2026 SEASON STATS

• Jonny Sorensen completed 8 of 18 passes for 103 yards with an interception.
• Aaron Larkins led the ground game with 14 yards on 4 carries, part of a rushing attack held to 14 total yards on 37 attempts.
• Mason Hackman paced the receiving corps with 4 catches for 83 yards. Credell Prather added 2 catches for 8 yards and returned 7 kickoffs for 117 yards.
• Gavin Day led the defense with 10 tackles, and Matthew Perry added 8.
• Adrian Guerrero punted 9 times for 295 yards, averaging 32.8 yards per attempt with a long of 46.

UP NEXT

• IWU returns to Wildcat Stadium next Saturday, September 12 to take on Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods under the lights at 6:00 p.m.
• Links for Tickets, live video and stats are available on IWUWildcats.com.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS

• Follow Athletics (@IWUWildcats): Instagram | X |Facebook
• Follow Football (@IndWesleyan_FB): Instagram | X | Facebook

 

 
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