MOUNT PLEASANT – A week after slowing up one option offense, Iowa Wesleyan College will look to stop another this week when it travels to Oskaloosa to face William Penn University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
IWC is coming off a 26-14 win over Waldorf College last week, in which the Tigers spoiled the Warriors’ Homecoming game on a muddy, rain-drenched field. Wesleyan owned the first half and then bent at times but didn’t break in the second half. Jaren Maybin (Sr.-Baltimore, Md.) scored three touchdowns to lead the offense, and the Tiger defense held the Warriors to 257 yards for the game and had five sacks and three fumble recoveries.
Waldorf’s double-slot offense was shut down for most of the game, and the Tigers will face a similar offense this week from William Penn. The Statesmen feature an offense very similar to the triple-option offenses of old, led by quarterback Ryan Van Dalen, who ranks sixth in the Mid-States Football Association in rushing. It will be Homecoming at WPU and is IWC’s second straight week playing as the visiting opponent for a school’s Homecoming.
The Tigers will face a Statesmen team that lost last week to Grand View University, 24-17. Penn gave up both a fumble return and a blocked field goal return for touchdowns and committed four turnovers in losing for the first time in MSFA Midwest League play.
THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT – The Statesmen came into the season with high expectations under sixth-year Head Coach Todd Hafner. Last year William Penn posted its best finish ever in the MSFA Midwest, finishing 7-4 overall and 5-2 in league play to tie for second in the standings. WPU went into the final weekend of the season with a chance to tie for the top spot but lost a 45-42 shootout to Quincy University.
The switch to the option paid off big last year for the Statesmen, who finished second in the MSFA in rushing. This season Penn comes into the game sixth in the conference in rushing and ninth in the league in total offense. One area the team has struggled is in the ‘Red Zone’, where WPU has scored on just 10 of 18 trips. Penn also is a -4 in turnover margin for the season and ranks near the bottom of the MSFA in fumbles and turnovers committed.
Defensively the Statesmen rank near the middle of the league in run and pass defense and are sixth in total defense. The defensive line is a strength, led by terror Dale Woods, who leads the conference in tackles for loss (15) and is tied for the lead in sacks (6), as well as big defensive tackles Jamal Zollicoffer and Damon Harrison.
SERIES HISTORY – IWC and William Penn are meeting for the 65th time, which for the Tigers ties their series with old rival Parsons College for the most-played series in school history. Penn holds a 33-25-6 lead in the series and has won the last nine meetings between the two schools. Wesleyan has not defeated the Statesmen since 1987, when the Tigers scored a 27-0 win to open the season. Last year WPU defeated IWC 35-13, led by a career-high 207 yards rushing by Van Dalen. Penn gashed the Wesleyan defense for 397 yards rushing and did not complete a pass. The Tiger offense actually outgained the Statesmen 414-397, with Lawrence Moore (Jr.-Country Club Hills, Ill.) catching nine passes for 147 yards, but three interceptions killed IWC drives in Penn territory.
AWARD WINNERS – The win over Waldorf brought Iowa Wesleyan a couple of awards this week. Maybin was named the MSFA Midwest League’s Offensive Player of the Week, receiving the award for the first time in his career. In addition, freshman defensive end Jean Louis (Wilton Manors, Fla.) was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week. Louis received the honor after recording nine tackles, two tackles for loss, 1 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in his first collegiate start.
MOVING UP THE LISTS – Maybin continues to make his mark as one of the better running backs in Wesleyan history and is working his way up the IWC all-time rushing list. The senior recorded his sixth career 100-yard rushing game last week against Waldorf, and his 155 yards rushing were a career high. He finished the game with 1,640 yards rushing in his career and passed both Duane Lucas (1,545 yards from 1975-77) and Derrick Wagoner (1,618 yards from 1989-90) to move into fifth on the all-time rushing yardage list at IWC. He now is 196 yards from tying Kim Albert (1967-71) for fourth on the all-time list with 1,836 yards rushing for his career.
FRESHMEN IMPACT – It’s seemingly a recurring theme this season, but once again freshmen played a large role for the Tigers last week. Quarterback Kevin McConnell (Kansas City, Mo.) threw his first career touchdown pass last week and accounted for 223 yards of offense, throwing for 133 yards and rushing for another 90 yards. A pair of freshmen wide receivers-Wes McGraw (Argyle, Iowa) and Qadeer Stewart (Morena Valley, Calif.)-had their first collegiate catches against the Warriors, and McGraw led the Tigers with 47 yards receiving in the game on his three catches.
Defensively, the top two tacklers for Wesleyan were freshmen, with Louis leading the team in and Nate Washington (Stone Mountain, Ga.) adding eight tackles, all solo. Washington also had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery and broke up two passes. Redshirt freshmen defensive linemen Richard Silva (Kirkland, Wash.) and Tarvis Gordon (Sanford, Fla.) did an excellent job clogging the middle against Waldorf, and even freshman defensive back Trey Ramsey (Burlington, Iowa) had two special teams tackles.
ON THE AIRWAVES – Iowa Wesleyan College will be broadcasting online for Saturday’s game as well as for the rest of the Tiger football games throughout the season. An online broadcast will be available at www.iwc.edu/onlinemedia. IWC Sports Information Director Adam Glatczak and football redshirt Kenrick Lawson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) will be calling the game. William Penn will also be broadcasting the game online, with a live Web stream available at www.statesmenathletics.com/liveAudio.php.
IWC-William Penn Complete Game Notes
For more information regarding the IWC football program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
