Wesleyan looks to finish strong in finale

Iowa Wesleyan College will try to do something it hasn?t accomplished in 13 years when the Tigers close out the 2011 season against Concordia (Mich.) University on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Mapleleaf Stadium.

The Tigers will be attempting to go into the offseason with a win in their season finale for the first time since defeating St. Francis (Ind.) 41-35 on Nov. 14, 1998.

Last week, the Tigers lost to Grand View 35-28, but stood toe-to-toe with the No. 23 ranked team in the NAIA.

This week the Tigers have a chance to conclude the season on a good note and also reach a four-win season. The four wins would be the most by a Wesleyan team since 1997, when the Tigers finished with a 4-7 record.

Concordia is in its first year as a varsity program and has a rough go of it in the extremely tough MSFA Mideast League. The Cardinals are winless on the season and have been outscored 504-33 while playing a schedule that includes four teams currently ranked in the top 13 in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches? Poll.

This is the first meeting ever between Iowa Wesleyan and Concordia. The last time the Tigers faced an opponent for the first time, as well as an opponent in its first year of football, was 2008, when IWC defeated Grand View 36-24 at Mapleleaf Stadium.

Saturday will be Senior Day, as it is the final game for six IWC seniors. Those to be honored before the game are Eric Davis, from Clemons; Cameron Jones, from O?Fallon, Mo.; Nate Schrock, from Mediapolis; Tyler Stewart, Merritt Island, Fla.; Matthew Palmer-Newton, from Camarillo, Calif.; and Brant Smothers, from Montezuma.

Jones, Schrock and Stewart all will finish as four-year letter winners, while Davis will be a three-year letter winner after transferring as a sophomore from Ellsworth Community College. Palmer-Newton and Smothers also will be honored as members of the team who had their careers cut short by injury. Palmer-Newton broke his leg in the middle of last season and unfortunately was never able to play again, while Smothers also was unable to play this year due to a back injury and helped out the team this season as a student assistant coach.

Wide receiver Ridge Hobbs has a chance to become just the fourth player in school history to top 1,000 yards receiving in a season. Hobbs needs 139 yards receiving against Concordia to hit the 1,000-yard mark. The last player to do so was Lawrence Moore, who had 1,001 yards receiving on 76 catches in 2008.

Quarterback Kevin McConnell reached a milestone last week, going over 5,000 yards passing for his career. McConnell is just the fourth Tiger quarterback to reach that mark, and the first since Wyatt Miller, who played for Wesleyan from 1995-98. McConnell enters the finale with 5,244 yards passing and next season could pass Miller for second on the all-time list at the school. Miller threw for 7,079 yards over four seasons, while all-time leader Dustin Dewald passed for 12,045 yards over three years from 1989-91.