The Carthage College football team opens its 2010 season on Sept. 4 by playing host to non-conference opponent Franklin College in a 1 p.m. game at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis. Carthage will continue to play at Art Keller Field while construction continues at the adjacent student center building. When that project is complete in 2011, Art Keller Field will feature new home stands, as well as an indoor press box within the student center building.
Following the Franklin game, the Red Men travel to Lakeland College on Sept. 11 and to Concordia University (Wis.) on Sept. 18. Carthage opens College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin-play at North Central College with a night contest on Oct. 2 before its Oct. 9 Carthage homecoming game versus Millikin University. The Red Men then play three-straight night games, beginning at home with Augustana College (Ill.) on Oct. 16, at Wheaton College (Ill.) on Oct. 23 and at home again versus North Park University on Oct. 30. Carthage travels to defending-conference-champion Illinois Wesleyan University on Nov. 6 before winding up the season, at home, against Elmhurst College on Nov. 13.
There was a point last year when it looked like the 2009 season was just going to be a lost year. After going 3-0 in non-conference play with wins over Hope College (26-19), Lakeland College (50-34) and NCAA Division I non-scholarship Valparaiso University (34-24), Carthage lost three of its first four CCIW games. “Even though we were 3-0, we struggled with our overall consistency,” admitted Carthage head coach Tim Rucks “For an offense that sometimes looks so polished, we do some incredibly dumb things, and our defense gave up some big plays. We knew we were not going to get away with inconsistent play like that in the CCIW.”
The Red Men lost their conference-opener at home to Illinois Wesleyan University, 42-16; outlasted Elmhurst College, 45-38; in Elmhurst, Ill.; lost at home to then-No. 14 North Central College, 63-48; and fell at Augustana College (Ill.) by a 42-20 margin. “We can be really good, at times,” said Rucks after the North Central game, “and we can also be really, really bad, at times. We had some unease about playing a highly-ranked team, but after a awhile, we sensed that we could be play with them. I told our guys at halftime that we would come back and make a game of things, and we did that.”
Even though Carthage lost to North Central, the game was one for the record books. The Red Men broke or tied 10 school records, 10 Art Keller Field marks and six CCIW records:
- 567 total offensive yards by Evan Jones broke his own mark of 468 set against Lakeland College on Sept. 19, 2009.
- 562 passing yards by Evan Jones broke his own mark of 446 set against Lakeland in September
- 84 passing attempts by Evan Jones broke his own mark of 56 set against Campbell University in 2008
- 47 passing completions by Evan Jones broke his own mark of 40 against Lakeland in September
- 6 touchdown passes by Evan Jones tied a mark originally set by Patrick Brown vs. North Park University in 2000 and subsequently matched by Jones vs. Hope in 2008
- 15 passing receptions by Jeff Koeneman tied a mark set by Rob Garnes vs. North Park in 2000
- 562 total passing yards broke a mark of 491 yards against Lakeland in September
- 84 total passing attempts broke a mark of 74 set vs, Wheaton College (Ill.) in 2008
- 47 passing completions broke a mark set against Lakeland in September
- 33 first downs tied a mark set against Lakeland in September
- 567 total offensive yards by Evan Jones broke his own Art Keller Field mark of 468 set against Lakeland in September
- 562 passing yards by Evan Jones broke his own Art Keller Field mark of 446 set against Lakeland in September
- 84 passing attempts by Evan Jones broke an Art Keller Field mark of 60 set by Lakeland's Kevin Fix in 1990
- 47 passing completions by Evan Jones broke his own Art Keller Field mark of 40 against Lakeland in September
- 6 touchdown passes by Evan Jones tied a mark set by Jones vs. Hope in 2008
- 15 passing receptions by Jeff Koeneman broke an Art Keller Field mark of 12 set by Lakeland's David Drane in 1997
- 562 total passing yards broke an Art Keller Field mark of 491 yards against Lakeland in September
- 84 total passing attempts broke an Art Keller Field mark of 74 set vs. Wheaton (Ill.) in 2008
- 47 total passing completions, breaking an Art Keller Field mark of 42 against Lakeland earlier this season on Sept. 19
- 33 first downs tied an Art Keller Field mark set against Lakeland in September
- 562 passing yards by Evan Jones broke a CCIW record of 533 set by North Park's John Love vs. Elmhurst in 1990
- 84 passing attempts by Evan Jones broke a CCIW record of 75 set by Wheaton's Keith Bishop vs. Millikin in 1985
- 47 passing completions by Evan Jones broke a CCIW record of 42 set by Wheaton's Keith Bishop vs. Millikin in 1985
- 566 total passing yards broke a CCIW record of 533 set by North Park vs. Elmhurst in 1990
- 84 total passing attempts broke a CCIW record of 75 set by Wheaton (Ill.) vs. Augustana (Ill.) in 1984 and Wheaton (Ill.) vs. Millikin in 1985
- 47 total passing completions broke a CCIW record of 42 set by Wheaton (Ill.) vs. Millikin in 1985
After the loss to Augustana (Ill.), Rucks said “We'll work to get better—that's all we can a this point. We still have a lot of football to play this year and lot of chances to prove that we are a good football team. Part of having a good program is reacting properly when things go bad. That's what our program has been about. We had some bigger hopes for the year, but this is what it is. We are certainly capable of getting showing how good we can be over the course of the next three games.”
Carthage turned things around by winning its final three games to finish 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the CCIW. The Red Men won two games in a row at Art Keller Field, defeating Millikin University, 41-28, and upending North Park University, 55-24, before stunning then-No. 21 Wheaton College (Ill.), 35-30, at McCully Field on the last day of the season.
“The 2009 team turned out to be extremely resilient,” concluded Rucks. “Our season was headed south, big time, and we came back strong at the end against some very good teams. We developed some confidence that we'd been lacking. Going into the off-season at 7-3 is huge for our program. In our minds, we feel better about ourselves than we would have at 6-4, and we know we can beat the top teams in the CCIW.”
Post-Season Honors
Kicker/punter Tyler Funk (Sr., Racine, Wis./Horlick, 44.4 yards per punt, 8-for-10 field goals) was named Associated Press second-team Little All-America. Seven members of the Carthage team were named 2009 All-CCIW. Wide receivers Jeff Koeneman (graduated-senior, Barrington, Ill./Palatine-Fremd, 103.1 receiving yards per game) and Nick Merchut (graduated-senior, Bartlett, Ill., 100.6 receiving yards per game), offensive lineman Terrance Clark (Sr., Dolton, Ill./Thornridge) and Funk were named first-team All-CCIW. Quarterback Evan Jones (Sr., Grayslake, Ill., 355.4 passing yards per game, 32 touchdown passes), center Matt Favero (graduated-senior, Hanover Park, Ill./Bartlett) and defensive end Alex Annes (graduated-senior, Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice, 37 tackles, 8 tackles-for-loss, 1 sack) earned second-team all-conference honors. Koeneman and Funk were named “D3football.com” All-North Region, while Merchut earned third-team all-region honors. In addition, Koeneman was named Wisconsin Private College “Football Player of the Year” and Tim Rucks Wisconsin Private College “Football Coach of the Year.”
Carthage Shatters the Record Book Again in 2009
Quarterback Evan Jones set season records for total offensive yards (3,655), passing yards (3,554), passing attempts (464), passing completions (309) and touchdown passes thrown (32), all bettering his own marks set in the 2008 season…with 6,651 total offensive yards, 4,253 passing yards, 59 touchdown passes in three years, Jones surpassed Patrick Brown's Carthage career records of 5,435 total yards, 4,253 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes set between 1999 and 2002…wide receiver Jeff Koeneman set a season record with 94 passing receptions, breaking his own 2008 mark of 77…Koeneman wound up his career as Carthage's all-time leader in both passing receptions (258) and receiving yards (3,008)…Tyler Funk set a school record with a 44.4 punting average, bettering a 1955 record of 42.3 set by Carthage Hall of Fame member John Eakins…wide receiver Nick Merchut wound up his career as the Red Men's all-time leader in touchdown passes caught (40), and his total matched Carthage's overall mark of 40 set by tailback Kevin Burris between 1996-1999…as a team, Carthage's 4,639 total offensive yards, 3,796 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns and 327 passing completions set school records, and its 257 first downs matched a 2008 season mark.
Top Returnees
Associated Press Little All-American kicker/punter Tyler Funk (NCAA Division III leader in punting, 44.4 yards), second-team All-CCIW quarterback Evan Jones (355.4 passing yards per game, 32 touchdown passes) and first-team All-CCIW offensive lineman Terrance Clark lead the returnees. The Red Men bring back 34-of-61 letterwinners from last year's 7-3 team, along with five returning offensive starters and eight on defense. Carthage graduated three of its four wide receivers, but Mike Koeneman (Jr., Barrington, Ill./Palatine-Fremd, 19 receptions for 202 yards) should emerge as one of the league's top receivers in 2010. Leading defensive returnees include end Cory Radke (Sr., Caledonia, Ill./Belvidere, 36 tackles, a team-high 6 sacks), linebacker Brad Fortney (Sr., Antioch, Ill., 47 tackles, 1 sack), safety Marcus Williams (Jr., Lake Villa, Ill./Lakes Community, team-leading 53 tackles, 1 sack, 2 interceptions) and safety Wayne Bolden (Jr., Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook, 35 tackles, 3 interceptions).
Leading Newcomers
Leading freshmen include offensive lineman Aleks Bojic (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East, All-Central Suburban League North), linebacker Mike Butler (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel, first-team all-area), offensive lineman Chris Csongradi (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick), offensive lineman Grant Deal (Grayslake, Ill./Central), linebacker Kevin Felke (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick, All-East Suburban Catholic Conference), linebacker/defensive back Mike Gentile (Grayslake, Ill./Central), defensive lineman Alex Karas (Sugar Grove, Ill./Aurora-Marmion Academy), linebacker Steve Lalich (Grant Park, Ill./Kankakee-Bishop MacNamara), running back Reggie Miller (Downers Grove, Ill./South, All-West Suburban League Gold), defensive back Jim Stagowski (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel), offensive lineman David Steele (Gurnee, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic) and defensive lineman Seth Storment (East Troy, Wis./Mukwonago, honorable mention All-Classic 8 Conference).
