Photo: IWU Sports
The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin added four Illinois Wesleyan football players to their All-CCIW Second Team roster. Seniors Jake Buhe and Zack Tencza were honored alongside juniors Charlie Hamilton and Conor Murphy.
This announcement marks co-captain Buhe’s third collegiate season on an All-CCIW team, as the conference did not compile a roster for the 2020-2021 season.
Newly minted tight end Tencza received his place on the All-CCIW teams thanks to an impressive 37 receptions on 410 yards, four touchdown passes and a spot on the D3football website D3football.com Team of the Week spotlight back in October.
Hamilton boasts his All-CCIW team title, as well as an IWU team-high 55 catches on 818 yards. He sits in the CCIW Top Five with an average of 81.8 receiving yards covered per game and seventh in the conference with seven touchdowns.
Murphy dominated his first starting season. The defensive powerhouse closed out the 2021 season with 25 solo tackles, 29 assisted tackles and 10 for loss. He also added a team-high 7.5 sacks to his stats.
The Titans played Augustana on Saturday, November 13 to celebrate Senior Day, as well as the final game of the season. Despite a number of team leaders, Augie managed to take home a 38-14 victory.
IWU fell behind early, rushing to close the 24-0 point gap. Sophomore quarterback Sage Schindler paired up with Hamilton for a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown shortly before halftime. The final 32-yard pass of the play put the first seven on the board for the Titans.
After returning from halftime, both Augie and IWU had a scoreless third quarter. But, The Vikings expanded their lead to 38-7 shortly into the fourth.
Freshman Melchizedek Woodson set up the final Titan touchdown with a 46-yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter. Schindler connected a 42-yard pass with Hamilton for a Titan first-and-goal.
Senior Anthony Marre closed out the play with a four-yard dash into the endzone. Marre’s touchdown sealed the last points of the game, leaving the final score at 38-14.
The Titans covered 304 total yards, closely following the Vikings’ 398. Schindler paced IWU’s offense, completing 25-of-46 passes for 252 yards.
Marre contributed 39 rushing yards for the game while Hamilton hauled in 125 yards, seven passes and a touchdown.
Seniors Daniel Gibbons and Jack Dawson led the defensive line with 11 and eight stops, respectively. Freshmen Frank Roti and Sam Schott contributed seven tackles apiece, on top of Schott’s team-high three pass breakups.
The loss to Augustana left IWU at 3-6 for the conference season and 3-7 overall. The Illinois Wesleyan football team will return next fall for the 2022-2023 season after some much-needed rest from the field.