Carthage College Athletics

The Carthage College football team (3-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), tied for 45th place in the Sept. 28 “D3football.com” poll, defeated NCAA Division I-FCS Valparaiso University (1-2), 34-24, on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Brown Field in Valparaiso, Ind.

Carthage struck first, scoring on an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive that culminated with a six-yard pass touchdown pass from Evan Jones to Jeff Koeneman 10:15. The Tyler Funk point-after was good for a 7-0 lead. The Crusaders came right back with a 12-play, 73-yard scoring drive that Ross Wiemer capped with a 12-yard scoring carry at 4:26. The key play of the drive was a Carthage roughing the punter call that gave Valparaiso an automatic first down.

Carthage re-gained the lead on a seven-yard, 74-yard scoring drive that ended with a John Seigler three-yard carry at 1:58. A 48-yard catch by Rick Loisi set up that touchdown. The Funk kick was blocked, and the Red Men led, 13-7. Wiemer’s 36-yard touchdown carry at 13:59 second quarter gave the Crusaders a 14-13 lead. Wiemer’s carry completed a six-play, 67 yard drive. The Red Men re-gained the lead on Jake Smith’s eight-yard TD catch at 9:07 second quarter. Funk’s kick was good for a 20-14 Carthage lead. Seigler’s six-yard TD carry at 3:39 second period capped a 10-play, 85-yard drive, and Carthage led by 13 points, 27-14, at halftime.

A 43-yard field goal by the Crusaders’ Chris Smith at 11:37 third period shaved the Red Men’s lead to 27-17. Smith’s attempted 44-yarder at 14:50 fourth period was blocked. Carthage had a possible scoring drive broken up at 11:24 fourth period when Eli Crawford picked off a Jones pass at the Valparaiso five-yard line. On the third play of the next Crusaders series, Erik Solis returned a 16-yard interception for a touchdown to give Carthage a 34-17 lead at 10:25.

63-yard touchdown pass from Valparaiso’s Bobby Wysocki to David Corneys at 4:11 fourth period made it a 10-point game, 34-24. The Crusaders were on the Carthage 18-yard line when Brian Hipchen picked off a Wysocki pass in the end zone. Four Valparaiso drives started inside the five-yard line, as Evan Jones dropped a pair of short punts deep in Crusader territory.

With a 3-0 record, Carthage swept its non-conference schedule for the fifth time in the last six years. Carthage rolled up 389 total offensive yards, 66 rushing and 323 passing, while Valparaiso collected 440 yards, 188 on the ground and 252 in the air. Evan Jones completed 28-of-41 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns. Jeff Koeneman caught nine passes for 88 yards. John Seigler ran for 76 yards on 17 carries.