BOXSCORE
Wheaton, Ill. – The fourth-ranked Thunder football team was handed its first defeat of the season in a 35-27 loss to Carthage College at McCully Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton falls to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in conference play. Carthage is now 7-2 overall and 4-2 in league play.
Wheaton will conclude the regular season next Saturday in a 1 PM kickoff at Illinois Wesleyan. Wheaton, Illinois Wesleyan and North Central will enter next weekend's final week of regular season games tied for first place with records of 5-1 in conference action. North Central defeated Illinois Wesleyan 23-7 on Saturday in Naperville.
Wheaton jumped out to a 10-0 lead through the first quarter as kicker Tim Ellingsen booted a 36-yard field goal and junior Pete Ittersagen electrified the home crowd with a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown. This marked the second time this season that the All-American has returned a punt into the end zone, tying Wheaton's single-season record for punts returned for a touchdown. Brad Musso (2003) and Brian Lazear (1993) each had two punt returns for touchdowns in those respective seasons.
Carthage put together 21-unanswered points in the second quarter as Donovan Moore, threw a 40-yard touchdown pass on a fake punt and returned an interception 86 yards for a touchdown, to go along with a Brennan O'Boyle touchdown pass to give the guests a 21-10 lead at halftime.
The Red Men extended their lead to 35-10 with two more O'Boyle touchdown passes in the early portion of the third quarter. Thunder quarterback Sean Norris hit senior receiver Noah Dreyer on a four-yard touchdown pass to cut the guests' lead to 35-17 with 3:49 left in the third quarter.
Wheaton's Alex Pokorny caught a 26-yard touchdown toss from Norris with 8:32 left in the third quarter to cut Carthage's lead to 35-24. On Wheaton's next drive, Ellingsen booted a 28-yard field goal with 4:06 left in the game to make the score 35-27 in favor of Carthage and put the hosts within a touchdown and a two-point conversion of the Red Men. On its next drive, the Thunder took the ball to Carthage's 44-yard line, but was unable to complete a conversion on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Red Men. The Wheaton defense forced a Carthage punt with 49-seconds left in the game. The Red Men downed the punt at the Thunder three-yard line to force a long Wheaton drive. The Thunder turned the ball over on the first play of the drive, setting up two Red Men kneel-downs to give Carthage its first victory at Wheaton in 25 years.
Wheaton recorded 415 yards of offense, passing for 374 yards, with 74 rushing yards. Carthage recorded 346 yards of offense, with 268 passing yards and 78 rushing yards.
Norris completed 26 of his 54 passing attempts, for 374 yards, with two touchdowns. Dreyer caught 10 passes for a game-high 155 yards, with one touchdown. Chris Fossum (PICTURED RIGHT) grabbed seven catches for 133 yards.
Sophomore Tyler Langs led the Thunder defense with 11 total tackles, including eight solos. Ittersagen recorded 10 tackles, including nine solos and he added three pass deflections. Linebacker Steve Pagh tallied eight tackles, with a forced fumble and an interception. Jesse Laizure, Grant Roszkowiak and Eric Theisen all recorded six total tackles. Roszkowiak tallied three tackles for lost yardage, including a quarterback sack and Ben Kuenzle made two quarterback sacks.
O'Boyle completed 28 of his 44 passing attempts for 228 yards, with three touchdowns and he ran for 78 yards on 19 carries. Jeff Koeneman led Carthage with 11 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Merchut caught seven passes for 87 yards, with one touchdown. Carthage's Danny Hernandez tallied a game-high 16 total tackles, with two for lost yardage. Aaron Miller added 10 total tackles, with two interceptions.
