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Trenton Norvell
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Football WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Roll to Season Opening Win

Box Score
MACOMB, Ill. – A lightning delay to start the game did not damper Western Illinois in its season-opener Thursday night. WIU scored on its opening drive and cruised to a 45-6 season-opening football win over Valparaiso at Hanson Field. The Fighting Leathernecks (1-0) won their season-opener for the third straight season and fifth time in their last six.
 
Trenton Norvell completed his first pass attempt of the game, 12 yards to Lance Lenoir, and set the tone for a career-high outing. J.C. Baker rushed four straight times, then Norvell found Joey Borsellino for 33 yards down to the six. Baker punched it in from six yards out, and Nathan Knuffman converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead just three minutes in.
 
The defense forced a quick 3-and-out, and the offense picked up again. Norvell hit Adam Hoogerwerf for 27 yards. However, on 4th-and-3 at the Valpo 20, Norvell was stopped one yard shy of a first down and the drive stalled. The next time with the ball, Western's offense kept clicking.
 
Kyle Hammonds went for 12 yards on the opening play. Quadarias Mireles caught a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage, and wound up with a 33-yard run into Valpo territory. Seven plays later, Norvell found junior Larry Harris for his first-ever reception, and his 9-yard run into the endzone also marked his first-ever collegiate touchdown.
 
Western scored again on its next drive when Norvell connected with Hi-C Scott on a 19-yard scoring strike for a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
 
Right before halftime, Western got down to the 2-yard line of the Crusaders. However, Baker was stopped for a 5-yard loss on a run and the Leathernecks settled for a 24-yard field goal from Knuffman and 24-0 lead at the break. Western held a 355-131 edge in total yard during the first 30 minutes.
 
Valpo (0-1) used nine plays on its opening drive but the defense forced a punt that was nearly downed on the one but was a touchback. WIU started with a 28-yard run by Baker. Norvell had an incomplete pass then Baker followed with a 14-yard run. Norvell found Scott again, this time for 38 yards and a score.
 
David McDaniel picked off Ben Lehman's pass on the ensuing drive, his seventh career interception, and got to the Valpo 40. Norvell and Baker needed just one play to find the endzone thanks to a 40-yard reception and 38-0 lead.
 
Devon Moore opened the fourth quarter with his first collegiate touchdown, a 10-yard run. Western lost the shutout when the Crusaders staged a 17-play, 77-yard drive that covered more than nine minutes. Brandon Hall scored from two yards out, but the extra point was blocked.
 
Second-year head coach Bob Nielson noted the big play potential of his offense in the game.
 
"Well a win is a win. I've learned that in 22 years. Anytime you can win and win comfortably you obviously do some good things and we did some good things tonight," said Nielson. "The two things I would highlight are number one I talked about having more big play capability and finding ways to get the ball to the perimeter and we did that. We had a 38- and a 40-yard touchdown plays and a couple other big plays that set up scores. Overall with the exception of the 3rd down in the first half I thought we played pretty consistently offensively."
 
Norvell set a career-high throwing for 320 yards on 20-of-28 passing. He matched a career-high throwing four touchdowns. It marked the first time in three years that a Leatherneck quarterback threw for more than 300 yards in a game.
 
Baker registered his eighth career 100-yard rushing game, totaling 137 yards on 17 attempts. His two total TDs (1 rushing/1 receiving) matched a personal-best.
 
Scott also matched a career-high with two touchdown receptions, netting 67 yards on four catches. Norvell completed a pass to nine different receivers. Borsellino also caught four passes for 59 yards. Lenoir had 53 yards and Hoogerwerf recorded 40 yards.
 
McDaniel added a team-high nine tackles with his interception. Luke Venegoni had eight tackles while J.J. Raffelson and Brett Taylor added seven stops. Taylor, in his first collegiate game, also forced a fumble.
 
"Defensively we gave up some yards and we're playing without Kevin Kintzel who is really kind of a quarterback for us, and hopefully we'll have him back next week. Any time you take a player like that out it affects you a little bit, although I thought our first defense played pretty well," said Nielson. "They gave up some yards at the end and probably the most disappointing thing by far was the fact that we have really bad undisciplined penalties, four of which kept drives alive for them. So the yardage total gets complicated by the fact that you give them first downs and allow to keep drives alive so that's something that needs to be corrected and I guarantee that will be corrected."
 
Lehman led the Valpo passing attack with 151 yards on 18-of-27 passing. Hall rushed 14 times for 64 yards. Kyle Hall had a game-high 10 tackles, including one for a loss.
 
Western travels to Wisconsin on Saturday, September 6th. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
 
GAME NOTES: The two teams waited out a 32-minute delay to the start due to inclement weather… Of the 57 players that took the field for Western, 26 did so for the first time. Western had four true-freshmen see action, defensive backs Aaron Diggs and David Griffith, kicker Luke Otto (kickoffs) and long snapper Gabe Burkhardt. Thirteen redshirt-freshman also played… Senior Jonathon Rollins saw his streak of 23 consecutive starts come to an end due to a violation of team rules… Senior running back Nikko Watson also missed the game due to a violation of team rules… Kevin Kintzel had his streak of 12 consecutive starts stopped due to an injury… Norvell's career-high 320 yards was the first 300-yard passing game since Josh Hudson threw for 307 in a 2011 home win over Southern Illinois. It also marked the most since Matt Barr recorded 343 at SIU the year before… Norvell also threw four TD passes against Missouri State last year… Baker tied for fifth all-time in Western history with his eighth 100-yard rushing game. He moved into a tie with Dre Gibbs and Kendall McDonald… Harris and Moore both scored their first collegiate touchdown… Attendance was 3,584… Redshirt-freshman Mick Nelson had 1.5 tackles for a loss while Gavin Ricketts paced the defense with 2.0 TFL, matching his career-high… On the field after the game, Raffelson proposed to his girlfriend Heather Smith, a former four-year letterwinner for WIU volleyball. She said yes.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Luke Venegoni

#46 Luke Venegoni

LB
6' 3"
Senior
Carmel
Jonathon Rollins

#4 Jonathon Rollins

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Everglades
Kevin Kintzel

#17 Kevin Kintzel

LB
6' 2"
Senior
Lincoln-Way West
Larry Harris

#39 Larry Harris

TE
6' 1"
Junior
Rock Island
J.J. Raffelson

#43 J.J. Raffelson

LB
6' 3"
Junior
Lake Zurich
Lance Lenoir

#7 Lance Lenoir

WR
6' 0"
Sophomore
Crete Monee
David McDaniel

#22 David McDaniel

DB
5' 11"
Senior
O'Fallon
Nathan Knuffman

#33 Nathan Knuffman

K/P
6' 1"
Sophomore
Camp Point Central
Gavin Ricketts

#98 Gavin Ricketts

DL
6' 1"
Junior
Western
Devon Moore

#28 Devon Moore

RB
6' 2"
Sophomore
Jefferson City
Joey Borsellino

#1 Joey Borsellino

WR
5' 11"
Sophomore
Montini Catholic
Hi-C Scott

#19 Hi-C Scott

WR
5' 9"
Senior
Central / Scottsdale CC

Players Mentioned

Luke Venegoni

#46 Luke Venegoni

6' 3"
Senior
Carmel
LB
Jonathon Rollins

#4 Jonathon Rollins

5' 11"
Senior
Everglades
DB
Kevin Kintzel

#17 Kevin Kintzel

6' 2"
Senior
Lincoln-Way West
LB
Larry Harris

#39 Larry Harris

6' 1"
Junior
Rock Island
TE
J.J. Raffelson

#43 J.J. Raffelson

6' 3"
Junior
Lake Zurich
LB
Lance Lenoir

#7 Lance Lenoir

6' 0"
Sophomore
Crete Monee
WR
David McDaniel

#22 David McDaniel

5' 11"
Senior
O'Fallon
DB
Nathan Knuffman

#33 Nathan Knuffman

6' 1"
Sophomore
Camp Point Central
K/P
Gavin Ricketts

#98 Gavin Ricketts

6' 1"
Junior
Western
DL
Devon Moore

#28 Devon Moore

6' 2"
Sophomore
Jefferson City
RB
Joey Borsellino

#1 Joey Borsellino

5' 11"
Sophomore
Montini Catholic
WR
Hi-C Scott

#19 Hi-C Scott

5' 9"
Senior
Central / Scottsdale CC
WR