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1997 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

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1997 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Gateway champion
NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal, L 12–14 vs. McNeese State
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 2
Record	11–2 (6–0 Gateway)
Head coach	Randy Ball (8th season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Gateway Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No.2Western Illinois $^	6	–	0	11	–	2
Northern Iowa	5	–	1	7	–	4
No.4Youngstown State ^	4	–	2	13	–	2
Southwest Missouri State	3	–	3	5	–	6
Indiana State	2	–	4	3	–	8
Southern Illinois	1	–	5	3	–	8
Illinois State	0	–	6	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1997 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Randy Ball and played their home games at Hanson Field. The Leathernecks finished the season with an 11–2 record overall and a 6–0 record in conference play, making them conference champions. The team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Jackson State before losing to McNeese State in the quarterfinals.^[1]

Running back Aaron Stecker, a transfer from Wisconsin, finished the year with 1,957 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns, which ranked second and first in Division I-AA respectively. Stecker was named the Gateway Conference's offensive player of the year.^[2]

Schedule[edit]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 28	No. 6Eastern Illinois*	No. 9	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 41–0		^[3]
September 6	Truman State*	No. 5	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 45–18		^[4]
September 13	atAlcorn State*	No. 5	Jack Spinks Stadium Lorman, MS	W 31–17	4,121	^[5]
September 20	atMarshall*	No. 4	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV	L 7–48	26,724	^[6]
October 4	atSouthern Utah*	No. 9	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	W 45–6	4,445	^[7]
October 11	No. 17Northern Iowa	No. 5	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 29–22 ^2OT	13,446	^[8]
October 18	atIndiana State	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 37–3	2,381	^[9]
October 25	Southwest Missouri State	No. 3	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 37–7	10,874	^[10]
November 1	Southern Illinois	No. 2	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 31–26	5,241	^[11]
November 8	atIllinois State	No. 2	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 37–23	6,512	^[12]
November 22	at No. 4Youngstown State	No. 2	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	W 24–21	12,134	^[13]
November 29	No. 14Jackson State*	No. 2	Hanson Field Macomb, IL (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 31–24	8,980	^[14]
December 6	No. 7McNeese State*	No. 2	Hanson Field Macomb, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	L 12–14	5,000	^[15]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

References[edit]

^ "Western Illinois Football Record Book" (PDF). Western Illinois University Athletics. p. 72. Retrieved November 6, 2021.

^ Bryant, C.B. (November 28, 1997). "Leathernecks charge up hill behind Stecker". Clarion-Ledger. p. 1C. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Western Illinois tops Eastern in opener". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. August 29, 1997. p. B4. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Leathernecks rout Truman State 45-18". Belleville News-Democrat. Associated Press. September 7, 1997. p. 2D. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Record-setting Stecker runs over Alcorn". The Clarion-Ledger. Associated Press. September 14, 1997. p. 5D. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Marshall easily pins first loss on Western Illinois". Herald and Review. Associated Press. September 21, 1997. p. C5. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Western Illinois 45, Southern Utah 6". Quad-City Times. October 5, 1997. p. 3F. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "2 OTs: UNI stumbles". Des Moines Register. Associated Press. October 12, 1997. p. 6D. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Western Illinois 37, Indiana State 3". Quad-City Times. Associated Press. October 19, 1997. p. 2F. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ Scranton, Lyndal (October 26, 1997). "Stecker, W. Illinois stun SMS". Springfield News-Leader. p. 1C. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ Hardwig, Greg (November 2, 1997). "Stecker sticks it to SIU". The Southern Illinoisan. p. 1C. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ Reinhardt, Randy (November 9, 1997). "Redbirds go out with a bang, loss". The Pantagraph. p. F1. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Leathernecks capture Gateway championship". The Southern Illinoisan. Associated Press. November 23, 1997. p. 3C. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ Cooper, Craig (November 30, 1997). "WIU wins a wild one". Quad-City Times. p. 10S. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Western Illinois falls to McNeese State in quarters". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. December 7, 1997. p. F3. Retrieved November 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Venues	Hanson Field (1950–present)
Culture & lore	Colonel Rock Rocky "We're Marching On" WIU Marching Leathernecks
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Gateway Football Conference / Missouri Valley Football Conference champions

Northern Iowa (1985)
Eastern Illinois (1986)
Northern Iowa (1987)
Western Illinois (1988)
Southwest Missouri State (1989)
Southwest Missouri State & Northern Iowa (1990)
Northern Iowa (1991)
Northern Iowa (1992)
Northern Iowa (1993)
Northern Iowa (1994)
Eastern Illinois & Northern Iowa (1995)
Northern Iowa (1996)
Western Illinois (1997)
Western Illinois (1998)
Illinois State (1999)
Western Illinois (2000)
Northern Iowa (2001)
Western Illinois & Western Kentucky (2002)
Northern Iowa & Southern Illinois (2003)
Southern Illinois (2004)
Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois & Youngstown State (2005)
Youngstown State (2006)
Northern Iowa (2007)
Northern Iowa & Southern Illinois (2008)
Southern Illinois (2009)
Northern Iowa (2010)
North Dakota State & Northern Iowa (2011)
North Dakota State (2012)
North Dakota State (2013)
Illinois State & North Dakota State (2014)
Illinois State & North Dakota State (2015)
North Dakota State & South Dakota State (2016)
North Dakota State (2017)
North Dakota State (2018)
North Dakota State (2019)
Missouri State & South Dakota State (2020)
North Dakota State (2021)
South Dakota State (2022)
South Dakota State (2023)

National championships in bold

1997 NCAA Division I-AA football playoff participants

Champion – Youngstown State Penguins

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