The Illinois Wesleyan football team capped off their season on a high note, beating Elmhurst 21-17 on Saturday, Nov. 12 for their first road win of the season. The Titans finished the season with a record of 6-4 overall (5-4 in the CCIW).
IWU fell behind early on Saturday, entering the second quarter down 14-0. As they have all season, the Green and White stepped up and fought back, scoring 21 unanswered points to take a lead in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore quarterback Jay Lemenager showed more promise going into next season. Lemenager completed 13 of his 24 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Senior wide receiver Charlie Hamilton finished the season, and his time as a Titan, with a great game. He caught eight passes for 113 yards and two scores. The performance put Hamilton over the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his college career. Hamilton was honored with a spot on the first-team All-CCIW team.
Junior running back Seth Albin also carried his momentum from last week into his play against Elmhurst. He rushed 12 times for 71 yards in the game. Senior running back also found some success on the ground, earning 65 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, the Titans forced one turnover. Junior linebacker Joshua Klein recovered a fumble for the Green and White in the second quarter that set Wesleyan’s offense up in the red zone. Klein also had two sacks and nine solo tackles on Saturday in a breakout game. Klein earned All-CCIW second-team honors with senior defensive back Anthony Wachal Jr.
Sophomore defensive lineman had a monster day in the trenches, earning a team-high 4.5 sacks. Fellow second-year defensive lineman Zach McNees was close behind his teammate with three sacks on the day.
In a season full of ups and downs, the Titans showed a lot of mental toughness this year. With so much young talent, Head Coach Norm Eash will look to build off of this season’s success in 2023.