Western Illinois freshman football player Toriano Tate is an accomplished track and field athlete, but had made key contributions on the football field this fall. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
MACOMB – Watching Western Illinois football games the rest of the season means seeing opportunity in action.
Mired in an 0-8 start and a 21-game losing streak, the Leathernecks have turned to multiple young players.
On Saturday at Hanson Field, one of those new faces was from a family familiar with WIU football and also is well-known on a different Western team.
Freshman Toriano Tate returned kickoffs and played most of the second half at cornerback for the Leathernecks with his brother, Tony, shooting video on the sidelines.
Tony Tate was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Football Conference wide receiver and return specialist at WIU.
Toriano Tate – at 6-foot and 195 pounds – is 3 inches taller than his brother. He had two tackles Saturday and returned two kickoffs for 29 yards.
“He’s an explosive athlete,” WIU head coach Myers Hendrickson said after his team’s 63-0 loss to Southern Illinois. “He’s a very smart person and football player. His brother played here, so he knows what it means to be a Leatherneck.
“He’s really come a long way. He has outstanding athleticism. We’ve been working him on returning some kicks. He’s an explosive player and he does a lot of good things.”
Though he’s new to football at WIU, Toriano Tate is a well-known commodity in the track and field program. He won the Summit League indoor and outdoor long jump titles last season, while placing third in the indoor triple jump.
He also ran the 60-meter dash and on the 4×100 relay team.
Tate, who starred at DeKalb High School, was joined on the defense Saturday by young contributors such as cornerback Cordell Wilson (freshman), linebackers Mike Cardilli (redshirt freshman), Gage Freeman (redshirt freshman), Ethan Ladd (freshman) and Cory West (freshman), defensive lineman Kaleb Randolph (freshman) and safety Kamal Mukarram (redshirt freshman), who all saw playing time.
On offense, some of the young contributors included offensive linemen Joey Treccia (redshirt freshman), Noah Wright (freshman), Dorian Arguelles (freshman), Kyle Wittenrich (freshman) and Yaser Alawadi (redshirt freshman).
The team’s second-leading rusher against SIU, freshman Dylan Van, gained 34 yards on eight carries.
Starting kicker Owen Valek also is a freshman.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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