By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – Even as Illinois Wesleyan kept a steely focus in dispatching on each of the first seven opponents during the 2015 football season, the Titans couldn’t help but direct at an occasional eye toward its week eight contest.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” senior receiver Artie Checchin said about the No. 13-ranked Titans’ matchup vs. No. 19 Augustana at Tucci Stadium on Saturday. “There’s a new level of focus we had in practice.
“There’s always an extra sense of urgency you have in a championship-type week like this.”
While the Titans enter the game with a 7-0 mark (4-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), even the senior Titans have never defeated the Cardinals, who have won have won five straight and 10 of the last 12 in the series.
North Central (4-3, 3-1) has won eight of the last nine CCIW championships but need to win out to have any hopes of earning a share of the crown this season.
IWU coach Norm Eash quickly refutes any suggestion the Cardinals could be down this season.
“You have to be careful of their record now, because they have lost to the No. 4-ranked team in the county (Wesley), the No. 5-ranked team in the country (Wheaton) and the No. 16-ranked team in the country (Wisconsin-Platteville),” Eash said. “That’s their three losses. Not too many teams in Division III have gone through that type of schedule.”
Eash said he is preparing for a ‘championship-caliber’ game.
“I’ve coached in those games before and it’s going to come down to big plays, it’s going to come down to the kicking game. I think special teams always make a difference in these types of games,” Eash said. “I also believe it’s going to come down to the team that makes the least amount of mistakes.”
Senior defensive lineman Will James said it didn’t get long to get ‘locked in’ for the Cardinals.
“As soon as we finished watching the Elmhurst film, we started watching North Central,” James said. ” I think we were ready to get started right away.”
WJBC.com will have the game starting at 12:45 p.m.
