2018 Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats football team

Taylor

The first-ever football game was played at home against the Taylor Trojans, IWU's cross-interstate Grant County neighbor from Upland, IN. The game was a pre-game sellout online, as confirmed by the announced attendance of 6,500. The Wildcats scored the first touchdown in the history of their new stadium, and they led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. But the experience of Taylor took over in the second quarter, and the Trojans led 21-14 at halftime. The Trojans eventually prevailed by a final score of 43-31.^[3]

The game opened with IWU winning the coin flip and deferring possession until the second half. The two teams traded punts, and Taylor started their second drive. After 3 successive downs that failed to gain a first down, Taylor punted a second time from their own 25 yard line. The punt was shanked badly, traveling 7 yards to give IWU possession at the Taylor 32 yard line. The Wildcats capitalized immediately, throwing a 32-yard TD pass to put them ahead 7-0. The next Taylor drive also stalled and ended with a punt. The Wildcats responded with a 68-yard punt return. The extra point was good once again, and IWU led 14-0.

Taylor took the next kickoff and marched 75 yards for their first score. On the following drive, IWU methodically marched down the field. The drive ended with a missed 34-yard field goal attempt. Taylor capitalized on the miss with another TD drive, this one culminating in a 63-yard pass. The extra point was good, and the score was tied 14-14 with 2:55 remaining in the first half.

IWU failed to move on their next drive, and they kicked the ball back to Taylor with 1:07 remaining. An efficient pass offense moved the ball down field, and Taylor scored and took a 21-14 lead into the half.

IWU received the second half kick and failed to advance the ball in 3 plays. Their punt attempt from the 20-yard line was blocked, and Taylor recovered the ball in the end zone for another quick touchdown. From this point throughout the second half, Taylor maintained control of the game. Both teams added scores to bring the final score to 43-31.

The IWU offense had some highlights in the game. All 4 of their TD's were scored on long plays. Besides the two first half touchdowns, the Wildcats' Dontae Henderson had TD catches of 79 and 57 yards. For the game, Henderson had 6 catches totaling 178 yards, or an average of 29.7 yards each. QB Zack Blair completed 18 of 34 passes for 309 yards, 3 TD's and no interceptions.

The historic event was filled with much pageantry to entertain the sell-out crowd of 6,500 people. Among the activities was the delivery of the game balls by a team of 3 skydivers. They exited their plane, a World War II museum-worthy DC-9, high above Wildcat Stadium before drifting on the wind and landing near the 50-yard line.

Anderson

The first-ever win in Wildcat football occurred in a 61-6 road win over Anderson. In a game that featured an abundance of rain, the Wildcats stuck to the ground for most of their attack. The strategy worked as the Wildcats amassed over 500 yards of rushing and 600 yards of total offense. The defense was equally dominant, holding the Ravens to 48 yards of total offense.^[4]

Trinity Bible

The first-ever home win in Wildcat football occurred in a 80-6 victory over Trinity Bible College. The game showcased a quick-strike offense that scored 10 touchdowns and a field goal in drives that were each 7 plays or less. The offense did most of the damage, and the defense contributed a pick-6 interception of their own. Including the interception, the team scored 6 times in the first quarter on drives that each consumed 1:33 or less. For the game, the time of possession favored Trinity Bible, with IWU possessing the ball only 27:28 of the 60-minute total. Once again, the Wildcats stuck to the ground for most of their attack. They amassed 440 yards of rushing out of 494 yards of total offense. The defense was also dominating, holding the Lions to 120 yards of total offense, including only 17 yards rushing on 34 attempts.^[5]

Lindenwood–Belleville

Indiana Wesleyan continued its historic first season of play with what would have been their first win against a conference opponent. The Wildcats beat MSFA Mideast League member Lindenwood–Belleville 44–7 in a home match that did not count in conference standings—the Wildcats will not begin conference play until the 2019 season.

The Wildcat offense rolled up 459 yards of offense, split as 264 yards rushing and 195 yards passing. IWU conrolled the game with ball control that held the ball for 40:25 of the 60-minute game. Scoring came in pairs with two rushing touchdowns each by Tyrell Phelps and Joshua McKenzie and two touchdown passes by Zach Blair. A field goal and one failed extra-point conversion completed the scoring picture.^[6]

The defense held Lindenwood–Belleville's offense to 261 yards, including 215 yards passing and only 46 yards rushing.

St. Francis (IL)

The first IWU Homecoming game was an exciting match that featured St. Francis scores and Indiana Wesleyan responses. Ultimately, the game was decided by a missed extra point attempt by St. Francis. St. Francis scored first, and IWU tied it 7-7. That sequence was replayed, bringing the score to 14-14. St. Francis then scored a third touchdown. But this time, the extra point attempt was missed. After the Wildcats responded with another score, their extra point gave them the lead for the first time, 21-20. This sequence was then continued two more times to arrive at the final score.

The game's outcome was in doubt right to the very end. Late in the 4th quarter, IWU fumbled the ball at the 50-yard line. St. Francis recovered the ball and had 2:06 left on the clock. St. Francis drove the ball to the 21-yard line before a sack moved the ball back to the 25-yard line. With :03 seconds left on the clock, St. Francis attempted a 42-yard field goal. But the attempt sailed wide as time expired, and the Cardinals had their 4th win in a row.

The game was a high-yardage offensive battle. St. Francis gained more total yardage, 517 to 456. This was attained with more rushing yards, 238 vs. 213, and more passing yards, 279 to 243. But the stat that mattered the most, the final score, was tilted by one in IWU's favor.^[7]