KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carthage College Red Men fell in heartbreaking fashion at Art Keller Field on Saturday, as Ethan Olles' pass with two seconds remaining fell incomplete and the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans escaped with a 19-14 win.
 
The second loss of the year for the Red Men drops them to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while Illinois Wesleyan moves to 6-2 and 4-2 in conference. 
 
"We got outcoached, outplayed and they beat us today," said head football coach Mike Yeager after the tough loss.  "We didn't do a great job in any facet of the game and missed some opportunities and it cost us… On the defensive side of the ball, we were unable to get off the field on third and fourth downs.  Offensively, the inability to just get anything going and finish drives.  We had some nice plays but never really finished anything."
 
The Red Men looked dominant early jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first half behind a rushing touchdown from London Townsend and an Ethan Olles to Jamahl Wright touchdown pass.
 
Townsend broke through in the first quarter with a 93-yard TD as he hit a hole in the center of the line, made a cut and used his sprinter-speed to out run the entire Titan defense.  Townsend's run tied the Carthage College record as the longest rushing touchdown and longest rushing play from scrimmage in program history.  The record was previously set by Randal Baker in 2001 against Elmhurst.
 
In the second quarter, Carthage's defense continued to shine as the Red Men forced a three-and-out however the Titans faked the punt from their own 30 yard line and the after failing on the fourth down conversion attempt, set the Red Men up deep in IWU territory.
 
Darquise Holman and Pete Laughlin had significant presences on the defensive side for the Red Men as each tallied seven solo tackles and combined for six tackles for loss in the game.  Laughlin also added a pair of sacks against Brandon Bauer.
 
Two plays later Ethan Olles found Jamahl Wright open over the middle for a 26 yard touchdown pass to extend the lead over the Titans.  The touchdown reception was the second of the season for Wright and the pass was Olles' seventh on the year.
 
Down 14-0 the Titans began to get their offense moving courtesy of the CCIW's top rusher, Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore.  After running for negative three yards in the first quarter, Shoemaker-Gilmore carried the ball 30 more times to finish with 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The first coming with just over a minute left in the first half to cut the Red Men's lead to 14-7 at the break.
 
The Titans looked to tie the game as Shoemaker-Gilmore added his second rushing touchdown on the opening drive of the second half but a failed PAT kept the Red Men ahead by one, 14-13.
 
Illinois Wesleyan dominated the time of possession in the fourth quarter as the Titans had the ball for 13:07 to the Red Men's 1:53, and while keeping them off the scoreboard for most of the quarter, penalties kept drive alive for the Titans' and with 50 seconds remaining in the game Brandon Bauer found Quincy Butler to take the late lead.
 
The Red Men committed 11 penalties Saturday for 126 yards.
 
"It was terrible today," said Yeager on the penalties by the Red Men today.  "When you commit the penalties that we did today you don't give yourself a chance to win and you extend drives when you are on defense.  It's something we have to get cleaned up."
 
With 44 seconds remaining Olles began to drive the Red Men down the field and eventually set Carthage up with a shot at the end zone from the Illinois Wesleyan 13 yard line but Olles pass with two seconds remaining fell incomplete as he was looking for Tommy Bazarek on a wheel route.
 
Olles finished as the Red Men's to passer on the day going 11-for-18 for 152 yards and one touchdown.  James Cobbs had five reception for the Red Men to lead all receivers and Townsend finished with 99 yards as the top running back for Carthage.
 
The Red Men will look to return to the win column next week as the Red Men make the long drive in conference to Decatur, Illinois for a matchup with Millikin University at 1:00 p.m.