NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Washington University in St. Louis’s John Fisher, Wheaton’s Patrick O’Connell and Millikin’s Wyatt Fox were selected as the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Football Players of the Week on Monday.
 
Fisher, a junior running back from Deerfield, Illinois and Deerfield High School (Economics & Finance major), helped lead the Bears to a 24-17 season-opening win over the University of Chicago on Saturday. He finished with 119 rushing yards on 19 carries and one touchdown, along with four catches for 60 yards and two touchdowns, giving Fisher 179 yards of total offense. It also marked the first time that Fisher went over the 100-yard plateau in his career. WashU travels to North Central on September 15 in the Bears’ first-ever CCIW contest.
 
O’Connell, a junior defensive lineman from Long Grove, Illinois and Stevenson High School (Business/Economics major), led a Wheaton defense that held Monmouth (Ill.) to just 54 yards of total offense in the Thunder’s 32-7 win over the Fighting Scots on Saturday. He finished with five tackles (three solo), including 3.5 tackles-for-loss, one pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. O’Connell was a 2018 D3football.com Preseason All-American after he recorded 8 ½ tackles-for-loss, five sacks, and 26 tackles last season.
 
Fox, a senior punter from Shelbyville, Illinois and Shelbyville High School (Business Management major), finished with four punts for 175 yards (43.8-yard average), including one inside the 20-yard line, during the Big Blue’s 25-21 season-opening win at Hope on Saturday. Millikin earned a spot in the “Others receiving votes” category with six votes in the Week 1 D3football.com Top 25 announced September 2. The Big Blue had a three-game improvement last season, going from 4-6 in 2016 to 7-3 in 2017.     
 
2018 CCIW Football Players of the Week
 
Offense
John Fisher – WashU (9/3/18)
 
Defense
Patrick O’Connell – Wheaton (9/3/18)
 
Special Teams
Wyatt Fox – Millikin (9/3/18)
 
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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 2016-17 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,900 academic all-conference recipients, 10 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, one CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and over 100 all-Americans.