The Millikin Big Blue football team opened its 2015-2016 season Saturday, Sept. 5 evening with a home game against the Greenville Panthers.

It was a scorcher to begin the season, fitting that the temperature at The Frank was about 90 degrees with a high heat index, leaving all of the players exhausted from the sun. Thankfully, everyone at the game caught a break as the weather cooled off throughout the first night-game of the season. Once the lights were turned on, the players gained the added ability to make big plays happen.

The first half was like watching two armies face off during World War I. Both teams battled back and forth on the defensive side of the ball. It was slow moving and had almost no flow. Each offensive drive was terse and rough, yet both defenses showed their strengths and combated for the entire half until weaknesses began to be exposed.

The only score to come from the first half was on the Panthers side of the ball. There were no offensive touchdowns, but Greenville’s kicker, Michael Carie, successfully booted a 32-yard field goal.

The stands were packed the entire first half with spectators looking on at both returners and newcomers alike. The biggest question for Millikin entering this game was how the coaches were going to make use of the much anticipated dual quarterback situation. The fans seem to have gotten their answer, but had to wait until the second half.

Millikin began the first half with their returning starting quarterback, Nick Pippin. Pippin has some experience against the Panthers as he opened the season with a win on Greenville’s own turf by throwing a performance with 247 yards and three touchdowns. Millikin also had 589 total yards of offense in that victorious season opener, with a score of 66-24. Pippin is a returning senior who set a pass completion record last season with 181 completions. Pippin also passed for 1,892 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Pippin seemed to struggle as he continued to attempt to get the ball rolling on offense during the first half, but he never quit. Pippin fought valiantly against the Greenville defense, but didn’t seem quick enough to escape the aggressive and relentless defensive line. Pippin’s aerial attack could have easily gotten the job done, but his footwork wasn’t strong enough.

Newcomer Nicco Stepina began to see some reps and his footwork seemed to do the trick. The coaches made some offensive changes during the halftime and began to divide the workload up into about 70-30 aerial to ground attacks for the Blue, with Stepina at the helm for the second half.

The second half began strong for the Blue as they received the kick and immediately marched 60 yards down the field to successfully finish their first offensive drive of the second half. Stepina drove his offense right into the end zone, finishing off the drive with a two-yard run himself.

Volpert, also a returner for the Blue, kicked the extra point giving the Blue a 7-3 lead. It was then Greenville’s turn to try and answer the Blue with an offensive drive of their own. They were unsuccessful in their endeavors and ended their opening drive of the half with a punt. Millikin then began their next offensive drive from Greenville’s 49-yard line. Stepina delivered once again with a stunning 49-yard play to another newcomer, Rion Tutt. Tutt made the reception and puts 6 more points on the scoreboard, with another good XPA by Volpert. Millikin then led the Panthers 14-3.

A desperate need for an offensive score to combat the Blue led Greenville to attempting risky plays. By this point in the game, the Panthers had turned to their third string quarterback, Sonnyboy Orfiano, and he made a desperate attempt to score. However, it ended up being a costly mistake and Millikin’s Treyvon Hawkins came up with his second interception of the night at the Millikin 48-yard line. Hawkins was missed last season as he had to be sidelined due to injury, but returned with a roaring fire as he made two interceptions, three tackles, and racked up three assists. That interception began the third offensive drive in a row ending with a successful score from the Blue on a 26-yard pass completion from Stepina to Taylor Sanders. Sanders, also a returner and the number one receiver last year for the Blue, came finished the night with 2 receptions for 33 yards and one touchdown.

Greenville, now realizing their situation decided to try their third string quarterback, Orfiano, yet again under center. This time he has a new target in the slot, Greenville starting quarterback, Jacob Battaglia. The two worked in tandem with Jacob Stull, the Greenville power back, attempting to hammer it through whatever gaps he could find in the Millikin defensive line. However, the Blue defense remained solid and didn’t leave many gaps as the Blue forced yet another turnover and a punt from the Panthers.

Millikin takes over once again as they are prepared to put some points on the board and add separation between the two teams. On an astounding play, Stepina scrambled like a mad dog running from animal control. Chased by three defenders, Stepina added some fancy footwork and dumped the ball across the field to seemingly favorite new receiver, Tutt. Tutt, also in trouble with two defenders of his own to deal with, pulls a killer spin move from out of nowhere. Tutt created his own hole and found his way to the outside of the field, just to cut back in about four yards before finding nothing but open field. The defensive backs scrambled frantically to catch up to Tutt, but he was just too quick. Tutt found a second year and punched through the end zone to give Millikin yet another touchdown. That touchdown then made four offensive drives and four touchdowns for the Big Blue.

Greenville, now trailing the Blue 28-3, had to make something happen. After a series of penalties and strong runs, Greenville finally found a hole. Cory Moore, the third string running back for the Panthers got his hands on a 26-yard pass completion from Orfiano. Moore was met with much resistance from the Blue defense, but he finally rattled his was into the end zone to put some points on the board for the Panthers. XPA was good and the Panthers then trailed 10-28.

The Millikin offense took over once again to lead a 66-yard offensive drive for the Blue. This drive would also end successfully for the Blue as Stepina showed his talent once again. This time, however, finishing the drive with an 18-yard pass completion to yet another newcomer, Cameron Mammen. Mammen also had some hot hands in the game as he finished second in receiving with four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown would be the final time Millikin scored as Volpert missed the extra point attempt. Millikin would end their score at 34. Greenville would try to work out their kinks and increase their stats with one last drive, as time would eventually expire. The Panthers were able to get in one final score before failing to complete their 2-point conversion attempt. The final score would be 34-16 as Millikin walked away victorious in yet another successful season opener.

The biggest surprise came from freshman quarterback, Nicco Stepina. Stepina comes out of Casey Westfield High School in Casey, Illinois. Stepina finished the night off with 9 completions, 15 attempts, and 1 interception. Stepina also finished with 256 yards and 4 touchdowns. Pippin finished with 4 completions, 11 attempts, and 0 interceptions. Pippin also threw for 47 yards and no touchdowns. Patrick Ganley led the ground attack for Millikin with 12 carries for 70 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Steve Isbell and Henry Banks, another player returning from an injury last season also saw some action. The two combined for 9 carries and 41 yards on the night. Leading the receiving corps for Millikin was Rion Tutt with 4 recptions for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cameron Mammen also had 4 receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown. Taylor Sanders finished with 2 receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. Brady Cufaude rounded off the Millikin receivers with 2 receptions for 31 yards. Cufaude came in clutch in the third quarter that gave Millikin a crucial third down conversion while under double coverage.

Millikin finished the bout with 447 yards of total offense, which is a slight decrease from last year’s season opener. The positive takeaway though is that the Blue were more consistent, yet still unpredictable for the Panthers. The Blue defense held strong throughout the entire game as they continued to fight through the heat against the aggressive Panthers offense. The defense has the most returning veterans enlisted on its squad. Led by captain Jake Gates, this machine is going to be a workhorse later in the season and you can expect them to show up to each game. Alex Tatar and Nikia Averitte led the defense in Saturday’s game. Each had 6 unassisted tackles and 5-assisted combining for a total of 22. Jake Gates also had 3 unassisted and 4 assisted for a total of 7 on the day. To round off the Blue defense was Isai Blumenshine, who had 4 unassisted tackles, with 2 assisted tackles and one sack. Volpert, who was listed as the starting punter, did not punt a single ball. Those duties fell to freshman wide receiver, Wyatt Fox, who had 6 punts with an average of 31.2 yards a punt. Kyle Leadlove, returning tight end, also got his foot on the ball for a single punt that sailed 40 yards inside the 20.

The Big Blue will return Sept. 12 for yet another home game against Kalamazoo College. This matchup will be a part of the CCIW-MIAA Challenge. Last year’s matchup was against Trine University. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. and coverage can be heard on Talk 101 radio as well as 89.5 WJMU The Quad.