FINDLAY, OHIO – For the second week in a row, Iowa Wesleyan College quarterback Kevin McConnell (So.-Kansas City, Mo.) has been named the Mid-States Football Association Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week, as announced by the league Monday morning.
McConnell received the award again after leading IWC to its second straight win, a 30-24 defeat of Waldorf College on Saturday in Wesleyan’s Homecoming game. McConnell threw for 319 yards, threw for a touchdown and also ran for a score in leading the Tigers to their first winning streak since the 1997 season.
McConnell also led a game-winning drive in the final three minutes for the second week in a row, this time driving IWC 59 yards in nine plays, with the drive capped by Jarrod Mikel (Fr.-Houston, Texas) scoring from two yards out to break a tie with 25 seconds left. That came one week after the quarterback led an 11-play, 71-yard drive for a 24-21 win over the University of St. Francis (Ill.) for the Tigers’ first win of the season and first win under first-year Head Coach Kent Anderson.
For the game against Waldorf, McConnell completed 30 of 43 passes for 319 yards. The completions and yards passing are both the highest by an IWC quarterback since Sept. 21, 2002, when Sheldon Cross completed 40 of 60 passes for 339 yards against the University of St. Francis (Ind.).
This season McConnell is now completing 59.2% of his passes, with 109 completions in 184 attempts. He has now passed for 1,141 yards and seven touchdowns and also has 112 yards rushing. McConnell also is up to 1,953 yards passing in his first two years at Iowa Wesleyan, a total that already ranks him ninth on the Tigers’ all-time list for career passing yards.
IWC is now 2-4 overall and 2-1 in the MSFA Midwest League. The Tigers will be home again Saturday night for a game against William Penn University at 6 p.m. at Mapleleaf Stadium. Penn will enter the game with an undefeated 5-0 record and is ranked 15th in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.
