BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Carthage College Red Men dropped a heartbreaker on the road, Saturday, falling to the #18 Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University in overtime, 40-34.
 
The loss drops the Red Men to 2-3 overall and to 2-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while IWU moves to 4-1 and 4-0 in the CCIW.
 
After Illinois Wesleyan opened the scoring on their first drive of the game the Red Men answered to tie the game in the second quarter, as sophomore Billy Dury found Bret Patton for a six-yard touchdown pass.  Moments later the Red Men would take their first lead of the game with a Lance Unland 28-yard field goal.  However, the Red Men allowed ten late points in the final minutes of the half to give the Titans a 17-10 lead at the break.
 
In the third quarter the Carthage offense failed to get going, but the Carthage defense stood strong and limited the Titans to just six points on a pair of field goals to keep it a two-score game heading into the fourth quarter at 23-10.
 
Bret Patton was on the receiving end of his second touchdown pass of the game to start the fourth quarter scoring, as Dury found him for a 13-yard touchdown pass to cut into the lead, 23-17.  With 9:05 remaining in regulation, the Titans took advantage of the third of the Red Men's four turnovers of the game and capitalized on a short field with a touchdown to make it a 31-17.
 
Carthage began their comeback on the next drive, as the Red Men marched 65 yards on ten plays, which was capped with Dury finding Evan French in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass.  Following another defensive stand by the Red Men, it looked as though the comeback was spoiled on Dury's third interception, but the defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive and the Red Men had another shot from their own 15 yard line with 2:21 left in the game.  The Red Men turned to the run game, which they had found success in much of the game, as Lafayette McGary and Dana Fontenot combined to carry the ball six times during the eight-play drive including a five-yard run by Fontenot to tie the game at 31-31 with just under a minute remaining.
 
In overtime, after getting inside the Titan's five, the Red Men went the wrong direction, forcing David Collins to kick a 46-yard field goal to give the Red Men a 34-31 lead.  For Collins, it was his first career field goal attempt.  The Titans answered in their first overtime possession and scored a touchdown in their second to take a 40-34 lead, but missed the extra point.
 
Having to score a touchdown on the next possession, it looked as though the Red Men were going to be kicking a PAT for the win after an Evan French touchdown grab, but a late flag negated the touchdown.  On fourth down, Dury looked for Patton in the back corner but the pass fell incomplete, spoiling the comeback and ending the game.
 
Dury finished the day 20-37 with career-highs in touchdowns, three, and passing yards, 235, while throwing three picks.  His 235 yards is also a season-high by a Red Men quarterback in 2018.  After setting a career-high with 25 carries last week, McGary rushed the ball 27 times on Saturday for 111 yards, while Fontenot finished with 14 carries for 73 yards and his first career touchdown.  Evan French turned in his third 100-yard receiving performance of the season, with a career-high 139 yards and tying his mark in catches with nine.  Bret Patton finished with seven catches for 74 yards and his first two-touchdown game of his career.  
 
As a team the Red Men outgained the Titans, 424-401 and dominated the running game with 183 rushing yards to just 31 for IWU.

Defensively, senior linebacker Emmet Trost led Carthage with 13 total tackles including nine solo and two for losses.  Connor Calvert led the secondary with 11 tackles and three pass break-ups and Kevin O'Boyle and Djogi Bumba each had an interception.
 
The Red Men return home for their next game, as Carthage will host Millikin University during Fall Family Week at Art Keller Field.  Kickoff next Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.