MILLIKIN UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL RELEASE—WEEK TWO Millikin Big Blue (1-0, 0-0 CCIW) Vs. North Park University (1-0, 0-0 CCIW) September 15 at 1 p.m. at Frank M. Lindsay Field in Decatur, Ill. Game Notes After its bye week last Saturday, the Millikin football team returns to action this weekend hosting North Park University to open play in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). With the addition of Washington University-St. Louis as an associate conference member for football, CCIW teams now play nine conference games meaning the Big Blue face a battle every Saturday for the rest of the season. Millikin opened the season with a come from behind 25-21 victory at Hope College on August 31. Hope scored on its first possession of the game and would put three touchdowns on the board in the first half. The Big Blue answered each Hope touchdown with a score of its own, but due to some issues on special teams, Millikin trailed 21-19 at halftime. The Big Blue defense dominated Hope in the second half keeping the Flying Dutchman off the scoreboard. Millikin scored the go-ahead touchdown with 8:40 left in the game on a 16- yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Nicco Stepina to senior wide receiver Gerald Perry to pull ahead 25-21. The Big Blue drive was kept alive by clutch 35 yard and 16-yard completions from Stepina to Jordan Smith. Millikin had 422 yards of total offense gaining 261 passing and 161 yards rushing. Hope had 335 yards of total offense. Stepina extended his Millikin career passing records going 19-38 for 261 yards passing and two touchdowns. Smith had six catches for 101 yards and Perry had six catches for 68 yards. Sophomore Jazontae Howard was Millikin's rusher gaining 133 yards on 23 carries. Millikin senior punter Wyatt Fox was named the CCIW Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against Hope. Fox had four punts for 175 yards (43.8-yard average), including one inside the 20-yard line. Millikin Head Coach Dan Gritti said the Big Blue cleaned up issues on both sides of the football during the bye week. The Millikin defense worked on tackling better after missing numerous tackles for a loss against Hope. The Big Blue offense worked on sustaining longer drives so they can be less dependent on the big play. North Park won their first game 28-13 over Anderson University on September 1. The game included a two-hour storm delay. Sophomore quarterback Grant Borsch completed 19 passes for 239 yards, tossing a pair of touchdowns along the way. Woodrow Corey caught eight passes for a game-leading 118 yards and a touchdown. North Park defense back Gary Anish was named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week after leading the Viking defense with 11 tackles and three interceptions. Last season Millikin defeated North Park 30-15 in Chicago. Stepina ended the day 17-27- 1 for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Smith had six catches for 123 yards with two scores. Matt Brown led the Millikin defense with 12 tackles including two tackles for a loss. Quintaz Wright had six tackles including four tackles for a loss. Davion Jefferson had four tackles for a loss including 2.5 sacks. Millikin Record Watch Nicco Stepina holds several Millikin career record, which he establish new marks each game. Career Passing Yards – 7,126 Career Touchdown Passes - 65 Career Pass Attempts – 937 Career Pass Completions – 534 Career Total Offense – 7,864 Career Receiving Leaders Gerald Perry ranks ninth with 1,608 yards. He needs 43 yards to move into eighth place. Jordan Smith ranks 12th all-time with 1,357. He needs 17 yards to move into 10th all-time. Career Touchdown Receptions-While he might not get this record early in the season, Jordan Smith is only nine away from Jeff Query’s mark of 29. Series Record: Millikin vs. North Park This is the 59th meeting between the two schools. The two teams have played annually since 1960 when North Park joined the CCIW. Series Record - Millikin leads the series, 52-6 Millikin Points vs. North Park 1,933 North Park Points vs. Millikin 554 Games Decided by 3 points or less - 7 Games Decided by 7 points or less - 9 Current Millikin win streak – Win 3 Last 10 games with North Park – 8-2 Biggest Millikin win - 2002 and 1961, 72-0 Biggest North Park win - 1968, 30-0 The Coaches: Millikin’s Dan Gritti and North Park’s Mike Conway Dan Gritti Overall: 41-28 (8th season) Record at Millikin: 12-9 (3rd season) Alma Mater: Vanderbilt University, 1995 Mike Conway Overall: 44-52 (10th season) Record at North Park: 23-38 (6th season) Alma Mater: Olivet Nazarene 2018 Millikin Football Schedule\Results Date: Opponent: Time: Aug. 31 at Hope College W 25-21 Sept. 15 *North Park 1 p.m. Sept. 22 at *Wheaton 6 p.m. Sept. 29 *Augustana 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 *Carroll 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at *Carthage 1 p.m. Oct. 20 at *Elmhurst 1 p.m. Oct. 27 *Illinois Wesleyan 6 p.m. Nov. 3 *Washington U.-St. L 1 p.m. Nov. 10 at *North Central 1 p.m. Home games in bold *=CCIW Contest 2017 Millikin Football Schedule\Results Date: Opponent: Time: Aug. 31 Greenville W 76-3 9/9 at Rose-Hulman W 28-26 9/16 Bye Week 9/23 *North Central L 51-21 9/30 at *North Park W 30-15 10/7 *Wheaton W 35-31 10/14 at *Augustana W 28-25 10/21 *Carroll W 56-35 10/28 at Carthage L 45-27 11/4 *Elmhurst W 41-7 11/11 at *Illinois Wesleyan L 31-6 Home games in bold *=CCIW Contest Broadcast Information The Millikin vs. North Park will be broadcast on ESPNDecatur (1050AM WDZ) and available online at nowdecatur.com. Millikin will provide live coverage of the game at athletics.millikin.edu. Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/millikin/football/ Live Video: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/millikin/ Millikin University vs. North Park University Week 2—September 15, 2018 (As of September 10, 2018) DEFENSE Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/High School DT 94 Alexzander Clark*** 5-11 330 Sr. Sauk Village, Ill./Bloom Trail 91 Christopher Vogt 6-0 250 Fr. Warrenton, Mo./Warren County R-3 DT 99 Davion Jefferson** 6-3 240 Jr. Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee 90 Jake Robinson*** 6-2 240 Sr. Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit DE 1 Quintaz Wright** 6-1 230 Sr. Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central 16 Jordan Telez 6-0 200 Fr. New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way West DE 38 Gabe Xayathone** 6-0 220 Sr. South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern 52 Josh Belcher* 6-0 200 Sr. Goreville, Ill./Goreville LB 35 Matt Brown** 5-11 215 Jr. Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central 33 Jevon Connor 5-8 150 Fr. Cordova, Tenn./Cordova LB 5 Nikia Averitte*** 5-11 230 Sr. Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central 55 David Blissit 5-8 200 So. St. Louis, Mo./Soldan International LB 36 Kyle Ramos** 5-10 180 Sr. Midlothian, Ill./Bremen 34 Jequan Harrell* 5-10 200 So. Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower CB 19 Joshua Scudder 5-10 170 Jr. Bolingbrook, Ill./Waubonsie Valley 20 Bobby Brake 6-1 170 So. Albion, Ill./Edwards County S 42 Tatum Teicher* 6-0 160 So. Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West 25 Ashton Sandy 5-8 165 Fr. McDonough, Ga./Ola DB 9 Israel Smith* 5-9 170 So. Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook 29 Adam Hayes* 5-11 200 So. Lockport, Ill./Plainfield Central CB 23 Keshawn Marshall* 5-8 175 So. Centralia, Ill./Centralia 18 Marcus Valentine 5-10 170 So. Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook OFFENSE Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/High School T 73 Rodney Baker** 6-2 320 Jr. Cahokia, Ill./Althoff Catholic 65 Deion Sims 6-3 260 Fr. Memphis, Tenn./Acad. Health Science G 72 Sauvignon Hayes* 5-11 295 So. McDonough, Ga./Ola 71 Kameron Foster 6-0 255 Fr. Hammond, Ind./Morton C 75 Connor Brewer*** 6-2 265 Sr. Springfield, Ill./Rochester 67 Justin Mysliwiec 6-0 265 Fr. Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central G 69 Jackson Delfosse** 6-0 340 Jr. Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame 78 Alex Vogt 6-0 290 Fr. Warrenton, Mo./Warren County R-3 T 62 Josh Mysliwiec** 6-0 265 Jr. Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central 56 Brandt Williamson 6-1 260 Fr. Westville, Ill./Westville TE 88 Blake Patchett*** 6-4 250 Sr. Campus, Ill./Herscher 45 Rory Arnold* 6-1 230 Sr. Wayne, Ill./Marmion Academy RB 6 Jazontae Howard* 5-6 160 So. Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook 26 Ladavion Severado* 5-10 170 So. Westville, Ill./Westville QB 2 Nicco Stepina*** 6-0 180 Sr. Casey, Ill./Casey Westfield 14 Cal Pohrte 6-2 210 So. New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way West WR 12 Jordan Smith** 6-4 195 Jr. Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville 87 Leigh Nutall 6-0 155 Fr. Brownsburg, Ind./Brownburg WR 7 Gerald Perry** 5-11 170 Sr. Memphis, Tenn./Whitehaven 4 Marquis Yarbrough* 5-11 160 So. Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette WR 82 Patrick Cooper* 6-0 180 So. Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township 83 Tyrice Hines* 6-2 200 So. St. Louis, Mo./Parkway West SPECIALISTS P 27 Wyatt Fox*** 6-4 205 Sr. Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville K 28 William Raibley 6-0 200 Fr. Evansville, Ind./Harrison North Park vs. Anderson – North Park Two-Deep 9/1/18 North Park Offense Pos.