Illinois Wesleyan football rolls to victory in Japan

Posted on June 5, 2017
Global Tokyo Bowl 2017
Illinois Wesleyan defeated Waseda 33-6 in Global Bowl Tokyo 2017 in Chofu, Japan on Sunday. (Photo courtesy www.iwusports.com)

By Eric Stock

TOKYO – The Illinois Wesleyan football team can soak up the sights and sounds of Tokyo while celebrating a 33-6 win over Waseda University on Sunday in the Global Bowl Tokyo 2017 at Amino Field in Chofu, Japan.

“It was a fun ball game, it was a great win,” IWU football coach Norm Eash told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin and Patti Penn about the exhibition win. “We prepared probably more for this game than any other international team we have played so far.”

PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Patti’s interview with IWU football coach Norm Eash.

According to Illinois Wesleyan Sports Information, this was the sixth foreign trip for IWU since 1996, but first in Asia. The others were all in Europe including Germany (1996), Italy (2001), France (2005), Austria (2009), and Finland (2013).

Tight end Andrew Apel caught touchdown passes of 5 yards and 21 yards, both thrown by quarterback Brandon Bauer. Bauer also connected with wide receiver Jack Healy on a 17-yard TD pass and Reese Sobol had IWU’s rushing TD on a 13-yard scamper.

The other Titan touchdown came when linebacker Jordan Hassan ran 3 yards into the end zone with a punt that had been blocked by defensive back Jeremy Giderof.

The Titans will spend more time sightseeing in Japan before coming home on Thursday.

“Toyko is an amazing city,”Eash said. “You are talking about 37 million people, I can’t explain it. A lot of people and a lot of buildings and our kids are really taking it in right now.”

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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