DECATUR - Over and over and over, Carthage showed how its defense got to be among the nation's best.

Millikin was in for far more than it could handle on Saturday.

But it may have been the special legs of punter Donovan Moore and kicker Matt Denny which aided the Redmen defense the most.

The two took turns pinning Millikin deep in its own territory. With nowhere to go and an offense that could never figure things out, Millikin fell to No. 14 Carthage 19-7 at Frank M. Lindsay Field.

"That's the way things panned out," Millikin running back Nathan Wallick said. "You have to get it done, and we didn't get it done.

"We have to be able to pass the ball. We have to be able to run the ball. We had mistakes, penalties, fumbles …"

And they had to go through a Carthage defense that held Millikin to 102 yards of total offense. Wallick was held to 51 yards - his lowest total since his first game as a freshman, a span of 22 games.

"If you have to look at a game and say it was a total team victory, this was it," Carthage coach Tim Rucks said.

It was a total inability to find a way to move the chains that cost Millikin in the CCIW opener. Millikin didn't get a first down until 3:13 into the third quarter. It got just seven on the day, with one coming via penalty.

"We were trying to move the ball, but we didn't make a first down," Millikin coach Doug Neibuhr said. "We weren't trying to play conservative. We were trying to make first downs and we just didn't.

"Part of the credit goes to their defense and part is because of our offense."

Denny got the long day started. Four of his kickoffs went deep into the end zone. His fifth was returned to the 15.

Moore was equally as effective. His punts put Millikin at the 20, 20, 14, 7 and 11.

Denny also contributed fourth-quarter field goals of 33 and 43 yards.

"He was as big a part of us winning as anyone," Rucks said.

But as bad as things got, Millikin had legitimate chances to win in the second half.

In the third quarter, Moore went back to punt and took off only to be stopped short of a first down. Millikin needed 24 yards to get on the scoreboard and got it done as Wallick ran 16 yards to tie the game at 7.

On the next possession, Moore took off again, this time giving Millikin the ball 26 yards away.

Neither were designed as fake punts.

"Oh gosh no, I'm not that dumb," Rucks said. "He felt he was rushed and he felt they would block the punt, so he took off running."

The second time wouldn't prove as costly. On Millikin's second play, Wallick fumbled it back to Carthage.

That set up the first of the field goals that gave Carthage a 13-7 lead.

Millikin's final chance came when Joe Albin's deep pass on fourth-and-1 went incomplete with 2:24 left in the game.

"Joe made a good play," Neibuhr said. "The ball just bounced off our hands. We just didn't make the play."

Tyson Wengel finished the Carthage scoring with an 11-yard run with 1:02 left.

"Obviously we got to the point in the fourth quarter where we were right there," Neibuhr said. "The disappointing thing is coming out of the third quarter with only seven points when we had the field position. Not getting more points out of that turned out to be the turning point in the game."

It doesn't get any easier next week as Millikin gets to travel to take on No. 8 Wheaton.

Mike Albright can be reached at malbright@herald-review.com or 421-7909.