Tigers fall 21-13 after taking 13-0 lead against St. Xavier

Playing tough games where they almost pull out a victory has been a trend for the Iowa Wesleyan College football team this year, and that trend continued on Saturday as the Tigers lost 21-13 to St. Xavier in their final home game of the season.

      "I'm running out of things to say to the guys after games," IWC head coach Todd McGhghy said. "You can only tell the guys how close they were so many times before it starts to lose its punch."

      The Tigers pulled out to a 13-0 lead over Xavier thanks to a 4-yard run by Tuan Nguyen-Rit and a one-yard score by Matt Cheek. On the Tigers' point-after attempt Xavier blocked the kick and Mike Wilkinson picked it up and returned the ball for a 2-point score for the Cougars.

      Trailing 13-2, Xavier's Greg Gerritsen returned the kickoff 83 yards for a score to cut the lead to 13-8. The Cougars' two-point conversion attempt failed.

      The Cougars' momentum continued as St. Xavier took the lead late in the third quarter on a 53-yard pass from John Perryman to Jim Doherty on a double-pitch pass that gave the Cougars their first big gain through the air.

      "(St. Xavier) is typically a well-balanced team," McGhghy said. "They had to resort to some tricks through the air. You have to hand it to their coach. He was digging deep to find something that would work against our defense. We just need to have the discipline to be ready for anything."

      The Cougars added some insurance early in the fourth quarter as Perryman connected with Steve Miljus on a 12-yard score for a 21-13 lead.

      "We have to play a complete game," McGhghy said. "That's what it comes down to. Our defense always seems to play well and last week (against St. Francis) our special teams played well. This week our special teams cost us the game."

      One of the Tigers' bright spots in the loss was the play by strong safety Fred Arcaina who intercepted a pass and returned it 22 yards for Wesleyan. It was Arcaina's fourth interception in the last three games.

      "Freddy Arcaina is definitely a blessing to our program," McGhghy said. "If he keeps going and has another big game, he's looking like an All-American type of player. I just hope our record doesn't keep him from getting those accolades."

      Iowa Wesleyan's running game also came together in the loss. The Tigers racked up 190 yards on the ground led by an 84-yard day by Ronnie Stewart, who carried the ball 10 times. Aaron Ronzanski also played well for the Tigers despite throwing two interceptions. He completed 16 out of 26 passes for 148 yards and rushed for another 25 yards. Joel Hernandez caught seven passes for 90 yards.

      "We took a major step forward," McGhghy said. "The two weeks prior, we weren't able to do much of anything on offense. This week our offense decides to show up and our defense played phenomenal, but our special teams weren't there."

      The Tigers are now 2-8 on the season and will face William Penn on the road this weekend to finish out the year. The Statesmen are also 2-8 on the season. They hold a 1-5 record in the MSFA.

Score by Quarters

ST. XAVIER???????..      0      0      14       7      -       21

IWC????????????      0      7       6       0      -      13

Scoring Summary

      Second Quarter

      IWC - Matt Cheek 1-yard run (Keith Smith kick)

      Third Quarter

      IWC -  Tuan Nguyen-Rit 4-yard run (kick blocked)

      SXU - Mike Wilkinson PAT return

      SXU - Greg Gerritsen 83-yard kickoff return (pass failed)

      SXU - Jim Doherty 53-yard pass from John Perryman (pass failed)

      Fourth Quarter

      SXU - Steve Miljus 12-yard pass from John Perryman (Brad Sheehan kick)

      Individual Leaders

      Rushing - IWC: Ronnie Stewart 10-84, Matt Cheek 10-44, Aaron Ronzanski 11-25, Eric Ksiazkiewicz 4-23, Nolan Gardner 6-10, Tuan Nguyen-Rit 3-4, Adam Johnson 1-0, Ryan Martin 1-0. SXU: Luke Schillo 17-48, Jim Doherty 1-28, John Perryman 4-15, Tom Brown 7-14.

      Passing - IWC: Ronzanski 16-26-2 148. SXU: John Perryman 18-33-1 255.

      Receiving - IWC: Joel Hernandez 7-90, Nguyen-Rit 3-23, Ben Ball 3-19, Ceek 2-28, Ksiazkiewicz 1-(-2). SXU: Greg Gerritsen 9-97, Doherty 3-108, Eric Bryant 2-14, Steve Miljus 1-12, Phil Serratoe 1-10, Tom Brown 1-7, Nick Mayerik 1-7.

      Tackles (A-UA) - IWC: Adam Johnson 4-9, Kelly Philius 3-8, Mark Underwood 4-4, Scott Regalia 3-5, Chris Hill 2-4, Floyd Turner 3-2, Fred Arcaina 1-4, Paul McCormick 1-4, Jason Crew 2-1, Chaeson Sears 1-2, Ron Byrd 0-2, Jermaine Hiley 0-2, Phillip Hayter 1-0, Tuan Nguyen-Rit 0-1, Brian Benson 0-1, Tremmell Jones 0-1.

      Interceptions - Arcaina 1-22.