The football season is just over halfway through and the race for the MSFA Mideast crown is as close as it can get. There are two teams primed to make a run for the title and a share of the MSFA crown, with little competition behind them.
No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats 7-1 (2-0)
The Wildcats are showing again this season why they are one of the best in the conference and the country. They currently sit on top of the MSFA Mideast standings, and they have done that through their domination on the gridiron.
The Wildcats are deadly through the air averaging 317.8 yards a game. Their offense is led by sophomore quarterback Kyle Antoine. He completes 69% of his passes and has also added 20 touchdowns to his already impressive season.
His biggest game of the year came against Marian on the road where he completed 20 of 25 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a 77-21 beatdown.
While the offense puts the points on the scoreboard, the stingy Wildcat defense has kept opponents off of it.
One of the leaders of this defense is senior defensive lineman Anthony Cheesebourough. He is tied for first on the team in sacks with four and also has 26 total tackles. A big game for him was the game versus the St. Francis (IN) Cougars. He collected six tackles and one sack.
Looking ahead on the schedule for IWU, it should be a pretty easy road to the MSFA Mideast title. As long as they don’t drop two of their last three games, the title will be theirs. Their remaining games are Concordia, Siena Heights and Lawerence Tech.
Taylor Trojans 5-2 (1-1)
Taylor is off to their best start since 1999. The Trojans currently sit at 3rd place in the MSFA Mideast standings behind first-place IWU and second-place Concordia. With one of the most productive offenses in the country, it’s no wonder why Taylor is making a push for the conference title.
Taylor currently has the second-best rushing attack in all of NAIA with 313.1 yards per game. This rushing attack is led by junior running back Jameson Chesser. He is ranked fifth nationally in rushing yards per game with 115.6 and he is ranked third in rushing touchdowns with 14.
Chesser’s biggest game came against the St. Francis (IN) Cougars where he broke the Taylor single-game rushing touchdown record when he scored seven touchdowns on the ground. He also had 143 rushing yards.
The NAIA’s leader in tackles per game, senior Linebacker Aven Jones, has been a run-stopping machine for the Trojans. He currently averages just under 13 tackles per game. Jones seems to find himself in the right place at the right time, every time.
Jones’ big game came against the Marian Knights where he had 19 total tackles and one sack. He also added a fumble recovery.
Taylor needs two things to go their way in order to win the conference title. They need to win out, and they need IWU to lose two. Taylor should be able to do the first part with their remaining schedule being three unranked teams. Taylor needs to handle business against Defiance, Madonna and Concordia to have a chance at the title.
