Bloomington, Il – The Illinois Wesleyan Football team hosted Wheaton College on Saturday, September 15 to open up conference play on the wrong side of the win column. 

The Titans decided to take the ball to open the game and marched down the field on the opening drive, scoring a 30 yard field goal coming off the boot of freshman Kaden Junge. 

An energized crowd and sideline propelled the green and white to hold the Thunder to a one score game at the end of the 1st quarter. A feat that hadn’t been seen since 2018 where the Titans went on to take down the Thunder 24-14. 

Just as everything looked up for the Titans , Junior quarterback Jay Lemenager went down with a shoulder injury halfway through the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Zach Hinds hurried onto the field and had himself a career day. 

The lack of experience threw the jitters out the door for Hinds’ as he threw 9-13 with two touchdown passes. 

The veteran squad rallied around the sophomore putting up 16 points at the half making it a two score game going into the half.