BOXSCORE
Olivet, Mich. - The Wheaton football team,
ranked 22nd in this week's D3football.com Top 25, concluded the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 61-14 victory at Olivet College on Saturday night. Wheaton will open conference play in front of a homecoming crowd at McCully Stadium next Saturday at 1 PM against #21-Illinois Wesleyan.
Wheaton scored in less than three minutes of the opening kickoff, as quarterback
Garrett Meador ran for a one-yard touchdown run to cap an opening drive of six plays and 58 yards. Meador's touchdown
with 12:22 left in the first quarter gave the Thunder a 7-0 lead, en route to 26 first-quarter points. Meador connected with senior receiver on a 42-yard touchdown pass with 9:32 left in the quarter. The Wheaton defense also helped put the 'Orange and Blue' on the scoreboard with a safety by senior defensive lineman
Charley Mitchell (PICTURED RIGHT) and senior linebacker
Cory Hart recovered a fumble and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown. Junior kicker
Scott Roche capped Wheaton's first-quarter scoring with a 28-yard field with 3:37 left in the opening quarter to account for the 26-0 lead at the conclusion of the quarter.
Wheaton held a 40-0 lead at halftime as sophomore quarterback
Jordan Roberts tossed second-quarter touchdown passes to
Davis Skinner for four yards and
Teddy Watkins (PICTURED LEFT) for eight yards.
Wheaton safety
Ryan Foster intercepted a pass on Olivet's opening drive of the second half and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to extend Wheaton's lead to 47-0 with 12:39 left in the third quarter. Olivet put its first points on the board with touchdown with 8:15 left in the third quarter and Wheaton countered with a two-yard touchdown pass from Roberts to
Justin Zeller with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter to extend its lead to 54-7. Olivet recorded a 58-yard touchdown pass with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter and Wheaton capped off the game's scoring on a five-yard touchdown run by freshman
Justin Swider with 2:11 remaining in the game to account for the final score of 61-14.
Wheaton amassed 528 yards of total offense, passing for 256 yards and rushing for 272. Olivet had 238 total yards, passing for 230 yards, with just eight rushing yards.
Roberts completed 14 of his 19 passing attempts for 145 yards, with three touchdowns and he also ran for 73 yards on five carries. Meador completed five of his eight passes for 111 yards, with one touchdown run. Ellis caught five passes for 106 yards, including the 46-yard touchdown catch.
Joey Skogen (PICTURED RIGHT) led the Thunder rushing attack with 84 yards on 12 carries, while
Rocky Gingg carried the ball 12 times for 53 yards.
Junior cornerback
Micah Markley led the Thunder defense with seven total tackles and two interceptions.
Sam VanHeest made five tackles, including two for lost yardage (-12 yards).
Ben Johnson and Hart (PICTURED BELOW LEFT) each registered two tackles for lost yardage. Foster,
Bryan McBroom and
Tyler Langs each intercepted a pass.
E
dric Miller, De'Marko Reed and Chris Behnke each made nine tackles for the Comets. Reed registered three tackles for lost yardage, including two quarterback sacks, with a forced fumble. Olivet quarterback Tony Phillips was 9-for-17 for 185 yards, with two touchdowns.
