BOXSCORE

PHOTO GALLERY, WITH PHOTOS FROM MIKE HUDSON & THUNDERPHOTOS.COM

Wheaton, Ill. –The fourth-ranked Thunder football team defeated Augustana 24-17 on Saturday afternoon in front of a large Homecoming crowd at McCully Stadium. The score was tied at 17-17 when senior receiver Andy McClain caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sean Norris with 18-seconds remaining in the game to give the Thunder the go-ahead score. (Click here to view video of the game-winning touchdown)

Augustana was first to score as the Vikings booted a 30-yard field goal following their first drive of the game, to take a 3-0 lead with 12:48 remaining in the first quarter. Augustana's second drive of the game ended when a Viking pass was tipped by linebacker Ryan Hoyt and landed in the arms of senior safety Brian Hollett for a Thunder interception at the Wheaton 20-yard line. Five plays later, Norris completed a pass to a leaping Teddy Watkins who caught the ball at Augustana 32-yard line and sped to the end zone untouched for a 71-yard touchdown connection. Watkins' touchdown gave the Thunder a 7-3 lead with 5:13 remaining in the first quarter. Augustana's Robert Wood scored on a two-yard touchdown run with two-seconds left in the first quarter, as the Vikings regained the lead at 10-7. Wheaton tied the game at 10-10 with 11:06 remaining in the first half, on a 30-yard field goal by Scott Roche. Roche's field goal was set up four plays earlier on a 41-yard pass from Norris to tight end Mike Berttucci to give the Thunder the ball at the Viking seven-yard line. The score was tied at 10-10 at halftime.

On Wheaton's first drive of the second half the Thunder offense took the field on fourth down, with two yards to go at the Viking 43-yard line. A diving catch by Freddy Ellis at the Augustana 38-yard line extended the hosts' drive. On the very next play, Wheaton ran a reverse that brought the ball to freshman quarterback Jordan Roberts who was lined up as a wide receiver and the rookie threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Watkins that gave Wheaton a 17-10 lead with 9:04 remaining in the third quarter. Augustana tied the game at 17-17 with a 30-yard touchdown pass by David Lee to Zachary McCullough with 8:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings had the ball on the Wheaton 38-yard line on third down, with six yards to go and 3:25 remaining in regulation when Hoyt sacked Augustana's David Lee for a loss of eight yards, forcing the Vikings to punt. Following the punt, Wheaton gained the ball with 2:43 remaining in regulation and the Thunder marched down the field in a 10-play drive of 86 yards that culminated with McClain's touchdown catch in the end zone to secure the victory. 

Thunder head coach Mike Swider noted following the game, “I told the guys all week that we would have to play consistent football for 60 minutes. We knew that there would be high points and low points, but I told them that they needed to be even and consistent. Well, they did that today and it paid off.” He added, “We overcame a lot of things that we did to ourselves and also had to overcome a good football team too, but we were able to get it done today.”

Wheaton amassed 462 yards of total offense in the game; passing for 318 yards, with 144 rushing yards. Augustana tallied 281 yards of offense, passing for 281 yards and rushing for just 32 yards. 

Norris completed 19 of his 37 passing attempts for 280 yards, with two touchdown tosses. Watkins caught three passes for 113 yards, with the two touchdown grabs. Ellis caught seven receptions for 52 yards and Berttucci made four catches for 81 yards. Tailback Charlie Velling carried the ball 12 times for 82 yards and Rocky Gingg ran the ball 17 times for 69 yards.

Senior linebacker Steven Lutes made a team-high 10 total tackles to lead the Thunder defense, including 2-1/2 tackles for lost yardage of 12 yards and he added four quarterback hurries. Hoyt recorded nine tackles, including three for lost yardage (-13 yards). Hollett added six total tackles and the first quarter interception.

Lee completed 18 of his 31 passing attempts, for 249 yards, with one touchdown toss for Augustana. Jake Parke caught eight passes for 107 yards. Eric Meyer led the Augustana defense with 14 total tackles and John Mago added 10 total stops.

Wheaton is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in CCIW play. Augustana falls to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in league action. The Thunder will travel to Millikin (4-1/1-1 CCIW) next Saturday for a 1 PM kickoff against the Big Blue. Augustana will host Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday at 1 PM.