The end of era. Effective Nov 19th, 2012, 18 year Carthage Head Football Coach Tim Rucks takes off the coaching hat and is promoted to Assistant Athletic Director at Carthage College. I will miss Tim on the field and working with the boys. His new roll will allow him to impact a larger spectrum of student athletes and those kids lives will be all the better for it. Congratulations Tim on a fantastic coaching career and best wishes to you in your new roll at Carthage!

http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2012/11/19/Football_1119122533.aspx

Quote from: USee on November 10, 2012, 05:28:58 PM
It's a final in Wheaton

Wheaton 55-7.

Congratulations Thunder on a CCIW championship!

Referring to the above post you made 4 posts prior to you calling out Newcardfan for congratulating his team and not congratulating the other 2 co-champs. Not trying to start anything at all, but found it a little amusing that you did exactly what you seem to complain Newcardfan omitted. No congrats in this post of yours to the co-champs. I say congrats to everyone at the top. My team was woeful this season.

Another interesting and action filled year of CCIW football. Congrats to the Tri-Champs! Good luck to those who are selected to move on and represent the conference in the playoffs. Congrats to the Seniors of all the CCIW schools. Thank you for your time and dedication to your respective football programs. It has been a pleasure to watch you all in action over the years. Best of luck to you all in your future endeavors.

Quote from: USee on November 10, 2012, 05:39:02 PM
NewCardfan--you left out one congratulatory gesture. You got 2 of the 3 co-champs....??

Kinda looks like you left out congrats to a couple of co-champs in your previous post as well.... 

Sept. 1 Carthage vs. Adrian Game Notes:  On a warm, humid afternoon in southern Michigan, the Carthage College football team (1-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened its 2012 season on Saturday, Sept. 1 with a 20-17 upset of No. 38 Adrian College (0-1) at Adrian's Multisport Performance Stadium in Adrian, Mich.  A late field goal by the Red Men's Brett Bukari (Jr., Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Beverly Hills-Detroit Day) broke a 17-17 tie.



Carthage struck first on a 12-yard quarterback sneak by A.J. Simoncelli (Fr., Downers Grove, Ill./South) at 12:16 first period.  Brett Bukari's point-after was good, and the Red Men led, 7-0,.  A 36-yard pass play from Simoncelli to Nick Gremley (Sr., Niles, Ill./West) set up that score.  A 23-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by free safety Alex Vitkauskas (Sr., Tinley Park, Ill./Chicago-St. Rita) gave Carthage a 14-0 lead at 2:39.



Adrian missed on a 25-yard field-goal attempt by Dustin Salliotte at 14:12 second period, but the Bulldogs came right back.  A 43-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Tenney to Justin Hemm set up a two-yard touchdown carry by Damon Brown at 9:57.  Salliotte's kick was good, and the score was 14-7.  Carthage's Bukari missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt at 5:39 and a 36-yarder with 51 seconds remaining in the half.  Adrian kicker Ben Klaver just missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt as time ran out in the half.



Carthage upped its lead to 17-7 at 7:29 third period on a 37-yard field goal by Bukari.  Salliotte connected on a 35-yard field goal with 19 seconds to play in the third period, shaving the Red Men's lead to 17-10.  A 37-yard pass from Tenney to Hemm midway through the fourth period set the Bulldogs' game-tying touchdown.  Tenney scored on a fourth-and-inches at 8:29, and Salliotte's point-after was good for a 17-17 tie.



With Adrian on the Carthage 33-yard line, Red Men cornerback Aaron Morris was whistled for pass interference, giving the Bulldogs a first down at the 18-yard line.  Adrian's drive stalled out, and Ben Klaver's 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Nick Dorau.



The Red Men took over on their own 22-yard line.  A 36-yard screen pass from Simoncelli to Reggie Miller put Carthage on the Adrian 15-yard line.  With the Red Men going for the touchdown on fourth-and-one at the five-yard line, the Bulldogs were called for offside, giving Carthage a first-and-goal at the three-yard line.  With fourth-and-goal on the five and 20 seconds remaining, Bukari connected on a 22-yard field goal for the winning, 20-17 margin.  "On the last drive," said Carthage coach Tim Rucks, "we started to work the clock.  We didn't want to score too quickly and give them a chance to march down the field.  We told the offensive line that we were going run on that last series of plays, and they got it done. That last drive was just a setup for Brett Bukari's field goal.  We wanted the ball in the middle of the field, and we had confidence in Brett Bukari, even though he missed two field goals earlier."



Carthage collected 287 total offensive yards, 116 rushing and 171 passing while Adrian collected 404 yards, just 81 on the ground and 323 in the air.  Carthage quarterback A.J. Simoncelli had a fine freshman debut, completing 15-of-25 passes for 171 yards while rushing for 14 yards.  Reggie Miller ran for 47 yards on 13 carries., and Nick Gremley caught six passes for 67 yards.   Brett Bukari connected on two-of-four field-goal attempts.  Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Tenney completed 22-of-34 passes for 323 yards, with Justin Hemm catching nine of those for 169 yards.  Carthage defensive tackle Nick Dorau (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Bradford) had two sacks, as did defensive ends Mike Merucci (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Bradford) and Tyler O'Brien (Sr., Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove).



"It was a hard-fought win," said Rucks, "and I honestly didn't know where it was headed at the end.  When we needed it, we found it.  We had a great first series to open the game, and then we had a good one to finish the game.  Everything in between, we'll work on next week.  The kids found a way to win, and I'm excited for them  Adrian is a good team and picked to win their league, so this was a good win.  Adrian didn't pressure us all that much.  Our pass protection was good, better than I thought it would be.  A.J. Simoncelli did a lot nice little things that don't show up in the stats.  He is a very composed individual, and he will grow a lot from this game.  His potential is unlimited.  He never got rattled or shook.  I think we have the best defensive line in the league—they're pretty good.  It's the strength of our team right now."

Congratulations to Carthage Head Coach Tim Rucks for achieving his 100th career coaching win in Decator this weekend! He has brought Carthage football a long way over his tenure.

Touchdown Carthage! Now 40-23 with a couple minutes remaining. You can mark the "W" for the RedMen. What a great effort by the Carthage players. Down 16-0 and still trailing late into the third qtr they never gave up on themselves. Big win and a must win for Carthage. A lose in the pick-ems pool I'm happy to take.

Touchdown RedMen! 33-23 Carthage with 8 1/2 to play in the 4th

Carthage fakes a punt on 4th and 4 from the Millikin 43 yd line and barely picks it up. Tack on 15 more yards for unsportsmanlike conduct on Blue.

Carthage with another big fumble recovery stopping a Millikin drive at the RedMen 36 yd line.

Carthage scores TDs on back-to-back possessions. First lead of the game for the RedMen. Now leading 26-23 late in the third qtr.

Looks like the PAT bug has bitten Carthage as well. Knocked the first attempt off the upright. Bad snap on the last PAT forced a 2 point attempt that failed. That 4 point lead would have been nice to have.

Quote from: oldnuthin on October 08, 2011, 04:09:36 PM
I am going to assume carthage went to the double wing this year. they have been running it well.

Mostly from the triple I. Running some option as well.

Carthage moves the ball 97 yards in 7 plays to draw within 3. Trailing 23-20

Carthage stops a Millikin Drive inside the RedMen 10 by recovering a fumble. Big break for Carthage.

Millikin quick score.....23-13 Blue. Mistakes hurt.