NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Millikin’s Nicco Stepina, Illinois Wesleyan’s Josh Akin and North Central’s Liam Crotty were named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Football Players of the Week on Monday.
 
Stepina, a sophomore quarterback from Casey, Illinois and Casey-Westfield High School (Health, Fitness & Recreation major), finished with a school-record six touchdown passes during the Big Blue’s 43-35 win over Augustana on Saturday. He connected on 21-of-31 passes for 344 yards and no interceptions, while his touchdowns went for 31, 70, 44, 14, four and 14 yards.
 
Akin, a junior linebacker from Blue Island, Illinois and Eisenhower High School (Economics major), was part of a Titan defense that held Carroll to 168 yards of offense in a 62-10 road win over the Pioneers on Saturday. Akin led Illinois Wesleyan with 10 total tackles (four solo) and added 1.5 sacks for minus 12 yards, along with 2.5 tackles-for-loss for minus 14 yards. Carroll was held to 20 rushing yards on the day.
 
Crotty, a junior kicker from Sandwich, Illinois and Sandwich High School (Broadcast Communication major), connected on both field goals and all three PAT attempts during the Cardinals’ 35-25 win over 11th-ranked Wheaton on Saturday. He put North Central’s lead out of reach with a 25-yard field goal with 2:01 left to play and he remains on pace to be one of just three Cardinal kickers to make 100 percent of his PAT attempts this season.  
 
2016 CCIW Football Players of the Week
 
Offense
Nicco Stepina – Millikin (10/17/16)
Orlando Hernandez – Elmhurst (10/10/16)
Andrew Bowers – Wheaton (10/3/16)
Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore – Illinois Wesleyan (9/26/16)
Orlando Hernandez – Elmhurst (9/19/16)
Broc Rutter – North Central (9/12/16)
T.D. Conway – North Park (9/6/16)
 
Defense
Josh Akin – Illinois Wesleyan (10/17/16)
Luke Sahly – Wheaton (10/10/16)
Andy Warsen – Elmhurst (10/3/16)
Tommy Sora – North Central (9/26/16)
Eric Stevenson – Wheaton (9/19/16)
DJ Warkenthien – North Central (9/12/16)
Sean Wetherell – Elmhurst (9/6/16)
 
Special Teams
Liam Crotty – North Central (10/17/16)
Zach Feddeler – Wheaton (10/10/16)
James Cobbs – Carthage (10/3/16)
Pat Cravens – North Central (9/26/16)
Zane Lodico – North Central (9/19/16)
Darquise Holman – Carthage (9/12/16)
Robert Martin – Augustana (9/6/16)
 
Twitter & Instagram: @CCIW_Athletics

The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2015-16 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,600 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 36 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and over 100 all-Americans.