FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[FormerCard]

Bellazini has had a great year as the leader of the Cardinal defense.  He has provided solid play all year.  You can see the difference he makes on the field.  I just don't see that the coaches would give the major award to another Cardinal when Kam will win the OPOY and Thorne COULD win the COY award, especially when it COULD be a three way shared conference title.

hmmm. i wonder who the 1 vote for bellazini is?

That was me actually...Had to give my boy some props

[FormerCard]

I say Thorne for COY for 2 reasons.

1.  Getting the Cards O back on track after losing so much talent...and

2.  Rallying a 2 loss team and pulling off the huge and somewhat improbable 28-0 victory over Augie, when they knew they had to win by 21 points.  That might be the biggest win in Cardinal football history.

Swider a close 2nd...although i would have no argument if he won.  What a tremendous job he and his staff do on a yearly basis.

With all that said.....GO CARDS!  Get that first conference title since WWII.

I know its a rough crowd, but I must correct you again my friend.   We won
27-0 over Augie, not 28.   That being said, party in the alumni tent this weekend after we lock up a conference title!!

[WahooThunder]

I have a hard time beleiving north park will score 14 pts against elmhurst.

I have a hard time believing North Park will score 14 points against Elmhurst too, but I felt like I'd be a little generous to the Vikings since it is their home finale and I was actually kind of impressed with how they played hard for 60 minutes in spite of the score against Wheaton.  I would like to think Watts will find a way to go out with at least one score.

[TitanBacker]

We all know Kniss has been one heck of a player for 4 years, but has Studebaker been such a standout?  Does anyone (Mugsy, usee) have his stats over the past four years?  I'm curious to see if he has been a standout for a long time or if this was a breakout year.

Congrats to those seniors finishing up four years of football and college!!  Go have fun and best of luck in the future.

[79jaybird]

Ah the regular season finale,  always a sad time of the year because unless you playoff bound, you have a long wait until September of 2007.  Congratulations to all players as the season concludes, because I must say 2006 has been a weekly exciting marathon with joys/sorrows plentiful.
I hope I am able to get updates from NPU in their pressbox, because I want to stay alert on what is happening in Naperville.  I also hope the City of Naperville comes out and attends the game!  I heard that NC did not "draw" very well in their game vs. Capital last year.  CardinalAlum, is that true?  If it is, I think the shame goes to the Cardinal Alumni and the City of Naperville for not supporting a local team.  I mean, they fill up BW Stadium for the annual NN/NC HS matchup!
If I was Wheaton, I would not want to put myself in a position where the Committee has to decide if they will grant a 2 loss team into post-season.  Take care of business, win your game and take momentum into the playoffs.
Somebody asked if Carthage has a chance vs. NC?  I believe so,  mostly because I think anybody can beat anybody in this CCIW any given weekend.  When I talked with Coach Rucks his first words were:  "We are playing in Naperville and my plan is to spoil their party."
Do I THINK they are going to win?  No, mostly because they are hampered by key injuries and Kniss has been to the "show" once before.  He is not going to let a CCIW Title/Trophy elude his grasp.  Should be an interesting game in Naperville.

[79jaybird]

My vote since week 1 when we called the Albion/Wheaton game has been Studebaker for DPOY and All-American.  He is visibly better than any other lineman in the CCIW and has the ability to "take control" of games.
Studebaker has that initial "first step" which allows him to get the leverage, which is what D-Linemen strive for.

[WahooThunder]

My vote since week 1 when we called the Albion/Wheaton game has been Studebaker for DPOY and All-American.  He is visibly better than any other lineman in the CCIW and has the ability to "take control" of games.
Studebaker has that initial "first step" which allows him to get the leverage, which is what D-Linemen strive for.

Well put jaybird, I couldn't have said it any better.

[WahooThunder]

We all know Kniss has been one heck of a player for 4 years, but has Studebaker been such a standout?  Does anyone (Mugsy, usee) have his stats over the past four years?  I'm curious to see if he has been a standout for a long time or if this was a breakout year.

Congrats to those seniors finishing up four years of football and college!!  Go have fun and best of luck in the future.

Studebaker is a junior.  Last year was his breakout season.  He replaced Trey Andrew after Andrew got injured in the first game of the season and went on to become first team All-CCIW with 7.5 sacks and 19.5 TFL. 

[79jaybird]

Thank you Thunderstones,  I think you guys have a good chance to go deep into the playoffs.
Back on opening day I talked to Brett in the pressbox, just commenting on how dominating Studebaker and the Wheaton Team was, along with how they shut down a better than average Albion Team.  I know Albion wasn't a prime contender in the MIAA but they are still a pretty good team that I think would do well in the CCIW.  The point here is that on opening day mind you,  Wheaton just took control of the game and made it look easy.  The Brits were running away from Studebaker and he was still making plays.
Other Defensive stars that I would grant All-Conference honors to include Ward Brady, John Scardullo, Bellazini, Ittersagen, Rob Hoyland or Brock Collins for IWU, along with Ray Decatur for NPU just to name a few.

[79jaybird]

Yup,  Studebaker is only a Junior. This means we (all the other CCIW Schools) have to weather his fury for 1 more year. 

[usee]

Yup,  Studebaker is only a Junior. This means we (all the other CCIW Schools) have to weather his fury for 1 more year. 

The good news for wheaton fans is they pretty much have 10 guys back on this defense. they lose tim march and dan studebaker (DT) as well as trey andrew but those two dlineman have been rotating most of the year w underclassmen that all return. so 3 of 4 dbs and all their lbs are back. on offense they have Ullrich, dreyer, bradley and most of the offensive line.

regardless of the outcome this year wheaton will be favored next year I believe.

[Titanwatcher]

To all posters. This is my first year on the board and I have really enjoyed reading all of your posts. I have found this board to be fun and informative and am looking forward to the next three years as my son is a freshman @ IWU. I will be in Wheaton today and am looking forward to seeing the Thunder's 2 defensive studs.

[usee]

from today's pantagraph article in bloomington here is a norm classic.

headed to wheaton to watch it unfold.

"I know we can play with Wheaton and beat Wheaton, but we have to do the things necessary to do that and that's been our problem all year. As a coach you're hoping we can put everything together. If we do that we'll be in the ballgame and have a chance to win it." – IWU coach Norm Eash

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/11/11/sports/doc45554887ed019761355639.txt

[Mr. Ypsi]

In fairness to Norm, what coach WOULDN'T say something like that?  Any coach saying "we don't stand a chance" should be fired on the spot!

[RedmenFB44]

Congrats to all the seniors playing their last college football game today (for some).

Good luck to the Redmen and NCC. I will be rooting for the Redmen of course but NCC has played so well this year and should get their first conference title in 46 years!