Illinois Wesleyan University football lost 55-7 against the No.1 ranked North Central College Saturday, October 23 at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
After a close first half, the Cardinals pulled away from the Titans by scoring an unanswered 42 points in the second 45 minutes.
This weekend drops the Titans’ record to 2-5 on the season and 2-4 against conference opponents, while North Central improves to 7-0 on the season and 6-0 against conference opponents.
Titan defense was led by senior captain Nicholas DeGregorio who recorded eight tackles, while also adding two sacks. Senior Skyler Metzger also accounted for eight tackles.
To open the first quarter, North Central scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass to complete a three-play, 44-yard drive. The Cardinals followed it up with a 27-yard touchdown pass and a missed extra point attempt in the second quarter, bringing the Cardinals to 14-0.
The Titans responded by putting together an 11 play drive that resulted in a 19-yard touchdown run by senior running back Anthony Marre.
With 2:40 on the clock, the Cardinals were unable to put up any points in their ensuing drive. The score at halftime was 7-13 with the Cardinals on top of the Titans.
IWU struggled to get it going in the second half, as pressure from North central’s defense limited the effectiveness of the offense.
The second half proved to be challenging for the Titans, as the high powered offense of the Cardinals showed why they are ranked No.1. North Central managed to score 21 points in both of the remaining quarters, bringing the final score to 55-7 for the Cardinals.
Sophomore quarterback Sage Shindler threw for 127 yards and one interception in Saturday’s game, while Senior Anthony Marre ran for 42 yards with a touchdown. Junior Charlie Hamilton led the receivers with 7 receptions for 51 yards.
The Green and White finished with 202 total yards of offense, while allowing 598 yards of offense to the Cardinals. A big contributing factor towards the lack of offensive production was the Titans going 4-for-14 on third downs.
The Titans are set to go up against the North Park Vikings this Saturday at 1 PM at Tucci Stadium. The Vikings are coming off a two-game winning streak and a season record of 2-5.