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Jaelon Acklin, Josh Baldus

Football WIU Athletic Communications

Football Travels West to face the Lumberjacks

Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 6 p.m. central

Game 2
WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS at NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS
September 9, 2017  •  6 pm  •  Flagstaff, Arizona  •  J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome
TV: Fox Sports Arizona Plus (DISH: 450; DirecTV: 686-1) | Fox College Sports Pacific | Pluto.TV (Pluto TV app for mobile devices)
RADIO: Announcers (Scott Kornberg, Dr. Tom Cody)
Beardstown - WRMS (94.3 FM); Macomb - WJEQ (102.7 FM); Galesburg - WAIK (1590 AM); Quincy - WPWQ (106.7 FM); Clinton, Iowa - (KCLN 1390 AM)
INTERNET: WRMSFM.com or Tune In Radio App (Google store and iTunes)
LIVE STATS: NAUAthletics.com
GAME NOTES: Western Illinois  |  Northern Arizona
THE SERIES: Western Illinois travels to Northern Arizona for the third meeting all-time. The Leathernecks look to take a 2-1 lead, most recently having won last year in Macomb.

THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois ranks 22nd in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll and received 55 points (26th place) in the FCS Coaches poll... Northern Arizona received four points in the FCS Coaches poll (46th place) and 117 points in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll (33rd).

FIRST SINCE 1935: You'd have to go back all the way to 1935 to find the last time Western opened the year with three consecutive road games. That year the Leathernecks opened at Parsons, at Knox and at Bradley... Western opens at Tennessee Tech then will take a plane flight west to Northern Arizona then a plane flight east to Coastal Carolina... The total amount of miles traveled round-trip in non-conference play according to Google Maps is 5,730.

MOON HONORED BY MVFC: Junior linebacker Quentin Moon earned his first weekly award when he was selected as the Missouri Valley Football Conference 'Defensive Player of the Week'. He recorded 10 tackles, including a career-high 3.5 for a loss... Moon was named Monday as Honorable Mention 'National Defensive Player of the Week' by STATS.

SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS AGAINST FCS: The Leathernecks have had great success in season-opening games against Football Championship Subdivision opponents... Western's 41-14 victory at Tennessee Tech marked the 13th time in the last 14 opportunities (only loss 20-6 at Sam Houston State in 2011).
2017: 41-14 at Tennessee Tech
2016: 38-21 at Eastern Illinois
2015: 33-5 vs. #25 Eastern Illinois
2014: 45-6 vs. Valparaiso
2013: 42-9 vs. Hampton
2012: 23-15 vs. Butler
2011: 20-6 loss at Sam Houston State (eventual national runner-up)
2010: 45-0 vs. Valparaiso
2009: 35-28 at Sam Houston State
2007: 29-26 (4OT) win vs. #20 South Dakota State
2006: 31-6 vs. Morehead State
2002: 64-7 vs. Drake
2001: 17-13 vs. #3 Western Kentucky
1997: 41-0 vs. #6 Eastern Illinois.

CAREER STARTS LEADERS: Senior James Torgerson leads all active Leathernecks with 31 career starts, all consecutive... Brett Taylor is next with 28 starts, also all consecutive... David Griffith has 27 starts, 26 of those consecutive... Jacob Judd owns 25 straight starts... Josh Baldus has 25 career starts, 16 consecutive... Xavier Rowe has made 21 career starts.

LEATHERNECK QUICK HITTERS:
• Co-Offensive Coordinator Doug Malone's return to Tennessee Tech went very well. The second-year WIU assistant coach worked at Tech from 1999-2006. In fact, Malone served as Tech's interim head coach during the 2006 season and led the program to the most Ohio Valley Conference wins since 2000 and most road wins in seven years.

• Sean McGuire surpassed 4,000 career passing yards during last year's season finale at Southern Illinois. In eight of his 16 career starts, McGuire has thrown for 300-plus passing yards and the team owns a 5-3 record... He moved into eighth place all-time with 4,203 yards.

• Western dominated the time of possession at Tennessee Tech. The 14:40 edge surpassed last year's season-best 13:40 advantage at Missouri State... The Leathernecks held the ball for more than 9:30 in the first (9:33), third (9:35) and fourth (11:09) quarter at Tennessee Tech... Seven times last year Western held the ball for 10 or more minutes in a quarter.

• The Leathernecks have forced at least one turnover in 42 of the last 48 contests... Eleven times in the last 19 games Western recorded two or more takeaways, including eight over the last two games.

• Brett Taylor is one of 12 players all-time with 300 career tackles (317). He ranks ninth all-time. His 206 solo tackles rank him sixth all-time in WIU history.

• Reigning MVFC Defensive Player of the Week Quentin Moon has five career games of 10-plus tackles, including a personal-best 14 last year at Missouri State. Four of those double-digit tackles came during the 2016 season.

• Steve McShane reached 1,500 career all-purpose yards (1,156 rushing).

• Jaelon Acklin had two career receiving TDs entering his senior year. He had two TDs in the season-opener at Tennessee Tech (1 rush/1 receiving).

• In all, 28 Leathernecks saw their first action in uniform. Two were true-freshmen in defensive linemen J'Len Smith and Shabar Wilson. Both recorded two tackles and shared on a sack.

• The Leathernecks welcomed five fifth-year seniors to the line-up as well. Tyrin Holloway started at defensive back. Brandon Mayes (DB), Jarid Brown (WR), Trey Dunkelberger (TE) and Lucas Holder (OL) made their Leatherneck debut.

SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona opened the 2017 season with a 62-24 loss at Arizona... Case Cookus, on the Watch List for the Walter Payton Award for National Offensive Player of the Year, threw for 306 yards and two interceptions... Cory Young rushed 11 times for 115 yards and two TDs while Joe Logan gained 101 yards on 18 attempts with a touchdown... Elijah Marks caught eight passes for 147 yards while Emmanuel Butler finished with 87 receiving yards... Kam'ron Johnson paced the defense with seven tackles, followed by Bryon Evans with five and three others with four tackles... NAU will face two Missouri Valley Football Conference programs this year, both at home playing host to Western and Illinois State.

 
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Players Mentioned

Jaelon Acklin

#17 Jaelon Acklin

WR
6' 2"
Senior
Liberty
Josh Baldus

#55 Josh Baldus

OL
6' 5"
Senior
Palatine
David Griffith

#38 David Griffith

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Avon
Jacob Judd

#66 Jacob Judd

OL
6' 3"
Senior
Clinton
Sean McGuire

#18 Sean McGuire

QB
6' 3"
Junior
Franklin
Steve McShane

#5 Steve McShane

RB
5' 8"
Junior
Freeport
Quentin Moon

#39 Quentin Moon

LB
6' 2"
Junior
Pike
Xavier Rowe

#6 Xavier Rowe

DB
6' 0"
Junior
Oak Park-River Forest
Brett Taylor

#44 Brett Taylor

LB
6' 2"
Senior
Macomb
James Torgerson

#77 James Torgerson

OL
6' 5"
Senior
Springfield
Trey Dunkelberger

#7 Trey Dunkelberger

TE
6' 4"
Senior
Governor Mifflin
Jarid Brown

#1 Jarid Brown

WR
6' 0"
Senior
Archbishop Carroll

Players Mentioned

Jaelon Acklin

#17 Jaelon Acklin

6' 2"
Senior
Liberty
WR
Josh Baldus

#55 Josh Baldus

6' 5"
Senior
Palatine
OL
David Griffith

#38 David Griffith

5' 11"
Senior
Avon
DB
Jacob Judd

#66 Jacob Judd

6' 3"
Senior
Clinton
OL
Sean McGuire

#18 Sean McGuire

6' 3"
Junior
Franklin
QB
Steve McShane

#5 Steve McShane

5' 8"
Junior
Freeport
RB
Quentin Moon

#39 Quentin Moon

6' 2"
Junior
Pike
LB
Xavier Rowe

#6 Xavier Rowe

6' 0"
Junior
Oak Park-River Forest
DB
Brett Taylor

#44 Brett Taylor

6' 2"
Senior
Macomb
LB
James Torgerson

#77 James Torgerson

6' 5"
Senior
Springfield
OL
Trey Dunkelberger

#7 Trey Dunkelberger

6' 4"
Senior
Governor Mifflin
TE
Jarid Brown

#1 Jarid Brown

6' 0"
Senior
Archbishop Carroll
WR