WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University football team will celebrate the careers of four seniors on Saturday, November 12 at noon against Washington University in St. Louis. The Pios's senior class consists of Jonathan Rau, Sebastian Scofield, Trent Stock, and Hunter Zweifel.
 
TEAM DETAILS: The Pioneers secured back-to-back winning CCIW seasons for the first time since 1990 last Saturday in the 26-18 win over Millikin. It was the first time the Pioneers defeated the Big Blue since 1991, the last season in the first stint in the CCIW. Carroll overcame adversary after Josh Raby left the game due to injury after a rushing and passing touchdown in the first quarter. Carroll receivers only caught seven passes for 149 yards, but it was Austin Eichstaedt who had 78 of those receiving yards after hauling in a 63-yard touchdown catch.
 
Defensively the Pios halted the Big Blue rushing attack to just 42 net yards after coming away with 12 tackles for loss for a total yardage loss of 69 yards. The defensive line got home in the QB rush, sacking Millikin four times with five QB hurries. Carroll led the takeaway category too, with Rau coming away with an interception and Jake Binkowski recovering a fumble. Binkowski also broke up three passes in the win.
 
PREVIEWING THE BEARS: Saturday marks just the fourth ever meeting of the two programs, dating back to the first contest in 2018 when Wash U became an affiliate member of the CCIW. Carroll hasn't beaten the Bears in their program's history. The Pioneers last season had the closest chance at knocking off the no. 3 team in the CCIW, but fell 12-35 on the road. The Bears scored 21 points in the second half as the Pios struggled to keep possession of the football.
 
Wash U enters the final regular season game of the year with a 7-2 record after bouncing in and out of the D3football.com Top 25. This week, the Bears fall out of the rankings after their 35-42 loss to #15 Wheaton. The Wash U offense has been nationally recognized this season, averaging over 44 PPG, while holding teams to under 20. A bulk of their attack comes through the air,  led by senior quarterback Matt Rush. Rush has thrown for over 200 yards in seven of the nine games he's appeared in this season with 27 total touchdowns.
 
DO YOU OWN BOWLING SHOES?: The Pioneers are vying for an opportunity to play in the second-annual Isthmus Bowl Presented by Culvers next weekend. The Isthmus bowl, started in 2021, pits the remaining top teams in the CCIW and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) not selected for the NCAA Tournament against each other. Last year, Wash U was defeated by UW-River Falls in the inaugural game.
 
With a win, the Pioneers would tie Wash U in CCIW wins but would hold the tie-breaker for third place. Then, if Wheaton is selected for the NCAA Tournament as a Pool C bid, the Pios will head for the bowl game. The WIAC could send either Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Stout, Wisconsin-Platteville, or Wisconsin-River Falls depending on how the final week of the 2022 regular season shakes out. 
 
 
APPROACHING RECORDS:  As the Pioneers enter the final week of the regular season concludes, here are a few records to keep an eye on this season:

• Interceptions returned for a touchdown (3): Jake Binkowski added to his total in this category against the Firebirds. He ties Mike Sikma with three pick-sixes. Four would be the school record for the most in a season. The career record held by Mike Sikma is currently five. Binkowski is also 32 interception return yards away from the single season record of 172 interception return yards in a season, also set by Sikma.
• Touchdowns in a season (27): Josh Raby currently sits tied for the fourth most passing touchdowns in a season with 19 so far through nine games. With one more passing TD, he would be just the fourth Pioneer ever to have 20 passing touchdowns in a season.
• Career Kick Return Yards (1,632): Keon Miller became just the fourth Pioneer in history to have over 1000 kickoff return yards in a career against Wheaton, and he has moved into sole possession of second all-time with 1,121 yards. Miller will have to take advantage of his final season to have a chance to catch R.J Hoppe's record of 1,632 yards.
• PATs Made in a season (42): Jacob Laurent's 33 made PATs this season sits just outside the top five in a single season in Carroll history. He'll need to make two more to meet Brian Jachimek's top-five record of 35 set in 2004.

 
HOW TO WATCH: The Pioneers and Bears will kick off at 12 PM. Live statistics and video will be available on gopios.com/football