FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[79jaybird]

As I told CardinalAlum in a personal message off this board, I was throughly impressed with the entire atmosphere at Raabe Stadium (Wi Lutheran) this afternoon.  The Cardinals' traveled well and outnumbered the CUW fans 3-1!  3-1 NC fans and CUW is just a hop away from WI Lutheran on the other side of Milwaukee.  The red (personal) tent, the red NC jackets, the Cardinals flag blowing in the East Stands, what more could you have asked for at a "neutral" site?  I will also say that I was really impressed with the field at Raabe Stadium.  Great Turf with sharp Green and Black Endzones (Warriors text).
In talking with some of the NC players and Coach Thorne after the game, this is a very CLASSY group.  For example, Kam can you comment on the game?  "It all started off with the defense up front.  They played solid up front.  They really stepped up and stuffed them. (CUW)  I don't think they have been hit like that in a long time."
How humble is Kniss to talk about his DEFENSE first knowing that he is the most explosive offensive tool in the CCIW and his offense put up 35 today?

This is a totally different team right now that has fine tuned the small "impurities" that were present in the early season.  Capital is a very good team also.  I think that if Kniss gets as much time as he did today next week, Capital will struggle to defend NC.
I love Coach Thorne's comment after the game
(Me)  Coach Thorne, congratulations, you have won the first playoff game in school history and earned the revenge from week 1 vs. CUW."
"Thank you Mark.  We call them DO-OVERS  and hope that we play better football than the first time we have met these teams." 
Do-overs  made me chuckle.  My old FB Coach called them "no brainers" but I think NC will prevail next week in Columbus as the momentum is clearly with the Cards.

[79jaybird]

"Wheaton's kickoffs are a concern to me"

On that note, North Central's Special Teams (and in particular Kick Off Team) was another reason why NC won the game.  The Cards had a design "pooch kick off" that was recovered inside the 35 yd line setting up another short field, culminating in a score.  At the time the game was still pretty close, but the special teams turnover gave the Cards a 21-0 lead and then it was pretty much over.
On that play CardinalAlum, I remember being in the booth thinking how come CUW just doesn't pounce on that ball, instead of trying to grab the ball off the turf?

[cardinaldad]

This poster's attended a football game at WLC's facility. I think you North Central fans who haven't seen that facility before wil like it. 

WLCALUM83 - What are you talking about? The field was in great shape and the scoreboard was great! But, there was only one locker room. The Cards had to dress and shower 5 miles away at a high school. This visitor's bleachers were made of treated lumber. The bench in front of me fell apart. And there were only 3 porta potties on the visitor's side and about 16 on the home side. I was not impressed at all!

[79jaybird]

WLCAlum83-- I have to agree with CardinalDad.  The ONLY things that impressed me about WI Lutheran's facility was A) the turf and the painted endzones  B) the scoreboard which both fall into presentation.  Facility wise, this is somewhat disturbing.  You have the Visitor's locker room and showers off site and the home team (CUW today) getting dressed and showering under the home stands?   
I will say their facility was adequate, but I would not say that the CCIW fans would be "impressed" with the facility.

[cardinaldad]

79JB - Thanks for the kind words on the Cards and your support. I'm sure not too many non-Wheaton and North Cntral people from the conference will make it to Ohio next weekend. But, your kind wishes and hopes are heard and appreciated!

[79jaybird]

The only BUMMER today is that my HIGH SCHOOL TEAM (Prospect High School) lost 17-3 to Lake Zurich!   
Well, tis the season for a new champ in Class 7A, so perhaps it will transfer to the d3football level.   

[cardinaldad]

Wheaton - congrats on your win today. Good thing that next weekend is Thanksgiving. That gives most of us an extra day of travel (Friday). With wins,  neither of us will have to travel too far in two weeks!

[Jim Matson]

For those of you who missed the game at Wheaton, you missed perhaps the best performance I've seen in a Thunder safety/cb.  Pete Ittersagen completely shut down his side of the field, had a number of key stops against the run, recovered a fumble, returned a punt for 40+ yards, and returned a punt 75+ yards for a touchdown.  I think he had only one stumble on coverage.  If there was a player of the game award for this one, it would have to go to Pete.

[WahooThunder]

Congrats to the CCIW on a job well done today!  Impressive performance by the Wheaton offense today moving the ball with ease on one of the top defenses in the country and especially Chaz Black with 108 yards in the first half against a team that was only giving up 2.1 per carry coming in.  Also, a huge performance by Pete Ittersagen in the return game with 3 punt returns of 35+ yards, including a 78-yard TD.  Turnovers still a concern though for the Thunder and that is something that can't happen next week if they want to have a chance to win, which I truly believe they do, against Mount Union.  I can't wait for another Thanksgiving weekend trip out to Alliance... maybe the result will be a little more favorable this time.

By the way, Go Cards!  Enjoy your trip to Columbus and hopefully we'll see you back at McCully in a couple weeks.

[WLCALUM83]

This poster's attended a football game at WLC's facility. I think you North Central fans who haven't seen that facility before wil like it. 

WLCALUM83 - What are you talking about? The field was in great shape and the scoreboard was great! But, there was only one locker room. The Cards had to dress and shower 5 miles away at a high school. This visitor's bleachers were made of treated lumber. The bench in front of me fell apart. And there were only 3 porta potties on the visitor's side and about 16 on the home side. I was not impressed at all!

WLCAlum83-- I have to agree with CardinalDad.  The ONLY things that impressed me about WI Lutheran's facility was A) the turf and the painted endzones  B) the scoreboard which both fall into presentation.  Facility wise, this is somewhat disturbing.  You have the Visitor's locker room and showers off site and the home team (CUW today) getting dressed and showering under the home stands?   
I will say their facility was adequate, but I would not say that the CCIW fans would be "impressed" with the facility.

I should have just mentioned the scoreboard and left it at that. I didn't mean to "go overboard". Though I've only been posting on these boards for a few months, I haven't intended to generate this kind of (in this case, justifiable) feedback just to get my own kicks out of it. I apologize profusely 2-fold. One, for making a post that turned out to be that misleading to begin with, and two, for any backlash that WLC receives as a result of this, both now and in the future.  

Further words fail me.

[79jaybird]

WLCAlum-- don't be too hard on yourself.  My first trip to Perkins Stadium at Whitewater last year was an eye opening experience for me!  I thought had a thought about what a big Stadium is, then I saw Perkins and I am like whoa!
For a young program like WLC, I think Raabe Stadium is very nice.  I think it is also in a good location with traffic ease.  Hop on 894 (bypass downtown Milwaukee) and you can get back to IL with ease.

[DismySpecial-T]

How big is the Ittersagen kid?

[robertgoulet]

Robert Goulet (or anybody) were you listening in on the d3football.com webcast? 

jay - I was listening in on the WONC broadcast.

Had I figured out in time that D3 was carrying it, I would have listened to them due to the fact that they aren't biased to either team. Oh well.


What a game!

[usee]

ok. we have a fun week ahead as its the CCIW @ the OAC for bragging rights in the north region. there are no doubt some newbies to this part of the season so lets get it all out of our system now. If you haven't seen MUC or Capital play in the playoffs please refrain from the "you haven't seen anyone like kniss, itersagen, studebaker, sulo" comments. They have seen players just as good or better and it won't phase anyone. We can all be hopeful and expect our teams to compete/win but lets avoid the "you haven't seen the likes of us" comments. usually you should keep your opinions on our board and go on their board to ask questions or respond to them. but some will roam...so be it.

If you are a wheaton fan you are likely all to familiar with Alliance. If you want info on MUC I strongly suggest you visit Ric's website www.mtunionfootball.com. he will have the entire season captured and early in the week he will have the tale of the tape comparing MUC stats to wheaton. If you go to the game I also suggest you bring a small radio and tune in to his broadcast as its the best call you will find. he is on am somewhere near 1300 (muc fans will know). if you can't make it you will have to follow along on the web or tune in to one of the two teams official radio broadcasts.

for NCC fans you will likely know more about capital than anyone since you played them last year. this will be an offensive battle with a lot of points likely scored. pentello is as good as it gets and so is kniss. I would love to see this game. traditionally the CCIW has battled OAC teams other than MUC fairly well and I expect this to be no exception.NCC's running game has been resurgent of late and that will be important as pentellow will be hard to stop unless you keep him off the field.

for wheaton I believe this is as strong a team overall as we have sent to alliance. it is definately better than the last 2 teams we sent and overall its better than the 2002 team in my opinion. we have a lot of speed on defense and that will help us compete. I just don't know if it will be enough. mistake free has to be the effort to have a chance. wheaton has yet to play mistake free and has won because of better athletes. no such advantage in alliance. If you want a chance you have to be near perfect in all three phases. I can't make this trip but will certainly listen in. lets have a great week and behave ourselves all the way around.

[Tailgater]

How big is the Ittersagen kid?

Not that big at all, not sure of exact height and weight, but if you walked up to him on the street you'd never guess by looking at him what a stud he is on the football field. Very youthful looking and pleasant guy.