WIU hoping to end long losing streak, then keep climbing
Western Illinois offered an unusual promotion for Saturday's home opener. The winner of a raffle during the spring game won the right to call the first offensive play.
“We're going to honor it,” first-year coach Joe Davis said this week. “The fan, it's the father of one of our players, got to choose the play from a raffle in the spring. We've kind of gave him a menu to choose from. Hopefully he picks a good one.”
A good start is important. WIU has a terrific history in football, with players like Bryan Cox, Rodney Harrison and Carmel grad Mike Wagner from the famed Steel Curtain defense. The Leathernecks have made 11 trips to the FCS playoffs, most recently in 2017.
But the program has fallen on hard times. When hosting Division II McKendree on Saturday night, WIU will be trying to snap a 27-game losing streak.
After a 5-6 season in 2018, the Leathernecks started to slide under coach Jared Elliott, then went winless in two years with Myers Hendrickson at the helm. But Davis, previously offensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois, is confident he can restore the glory days in Macomb.
“I was very much attracted to a tradition of excellence that has been here within the football program at Western,” said Davis, a Michigan native who spent a few years on the staff at Wheaton College. “(Coming from EIU) I just think we can do something very similar here with a beautiful campus, with good enough resources, facilities, budget to be very competitive at some point, in the OVC (Ohio Valley Conference).”
WIU jumped from the ultracompetitive Missouri Valley to the OVC this season, which should help the cause. The Leathernecks will be playing teams like Lindenwood and Tennessee-Martin instead of North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
One player who has endured the entire streak is former Warren linebacker Juan DelaCruz. He was among the team's tackle leaders the past two years, hasn't played yet this season due to a knee injury, but is planning to return to action Saturday.
“These past few years obviously have been really rough,” DelaCruz said in a phone interview. “It's been a struggle to find the identity of Western Illinois. The two years here we haven't won a game have been really detrimental not only to me, but to some of the teammates that stuck it out with me. It's down to only three people that came in with me (as freshmen).”
DelaCruz entered the transfer portal at one point, got some offers to change teams, but decided to stay at Western mostly so his parents could continue to attend his games. Leaving the state would have made that more difficult.
“Western's a pretty historic school and a lot of people I came in with took a lot of pride in Western,” he said. “I think what we were missing is that pride, something to play for other than yourself.
“This is the first year I feel a lot more confident in the team. I think we're going to get some wins this year. I think taking pride as a football player at this school is huge. That's what all the alumni told me when I first came on my visit in 2017 or '18.”
Wheaton rebounds
In Division III, Wheaton College was ranked No. 9 in preseason polls, lost its nonconference opener at Wisconsin-Oshkosh, then faced a tough start in the CCIW by hosting Augustana, which went 8-3 last season.
Actually, it was no problem at all. The Thunder rolled to a 42-3 victory utilizing some homegrown talent. The offensive stars included quarterback Mark Forcucci (Wheaton North), who threw for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns; wide receiver Breck Peacock (Wheaton Academy) had 62 receiving yards, while Seth Kortenhoeven (Wheaton North) made a 22-yard TD grab.
A couple other notable Division III scores from last week: Top-ranked North Central won its CCIW opener at Carthage 63-0. No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater lost to Texas powerhouse Mary Hardin-Baylor.
FCS roundup
Illinois State won its third game in a row, beating Eastern Illinois 31-7. QB Tommy Rittenhouse (St. Francis) found Daniel Sobkowicz (Rolling Meadows) for a pair of touchdown passes, while linebacker Patrick Bauers (St. Viator) had two tackles for loss. Anthony Shockey (Glenbard East) led EIU with 10 tackles. The Redbirds, ranked No. 15 in FCS, host No. 2 North Dakota State on Saturday.
SIU dropped to No. 17 in the rankings after losing its rivalry game at Southeast Missouri last week. The Salukis open conference play at No. 5 South Dakota.
Local standouts
TreShawn Watson (Antioch) recorded his third straight 100-yard receiving game for Minnesota-Mankato last week against Minot State. He ranks ninth in Division II in the category. … Roosevelt's Keonta Nixon (Lake Park) piled up 209 receiving yards on 8 catches in a loss to Valparaiso. … Wisconsin-Platteville QB Michael Priami (St. Charles North) threw two touchdown passes to WR Garrett Stare (Neuqua Valley) in a 42-21 win over Wabash. Platteville (3-0) moved up to No. 23 in the Division III poll.