GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Tony Vargyas recorded 10.5 tackles and intercepted a pass during Wheaton's 22-21 loss at Albion on Saturday.
Albion, Mich.- The Wheaton Thunder saw their 30-game nonconference regular season winning streak come to an end with a 22-21 loss to the Albion Britons on Saturday afternoon. Albion's
Spencer Krauss connected with
Zachary Brewer for a 21-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-nine with 1:30 left in the game to put the Britons (2-0) ahead, and their defense held on to send the Thunder to 1-1 on the season.
Albion delivered the first highlight of the game by forcing the Thunder into a three-and-out on the game's opening possession. The Britons then drove the ball down to the Thunder two-yard line before Wheaton forced the Britons to settle for a field goal. Albion would capitalize on its next possession as well when
Clinton Orr capped a nine-play drive with a six-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was blocked leaving the Britons' lead at 9-0.
The Thunder came right back on the next possession with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 24-yard touchdown pass from
Jordan Roberts to
Morgan Cook.
After a forced three-and-out, Roberts connected with his brother,
Grayson Roberts, for a 39-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the drive.
Sam Cote's PAT gave Wheaton a 14-9 lead.
Albion tried to respond in similar fashion, but
Tony Vargyas intercepted Krauss' deep ball and returned it 26 yards to the Albion 24-yard line. Five plays later,
Peter Jarrett (PICTURED LEFT) rumbled into the end zone from a yard out to make it 21-9. Jarrett would finish with 90 yards on 19 carries to lead the Thunder.
Trying to add one more score to the Wheaton lead, Cote missed a 53-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the first half to keep the score at 21-9.
Receiving to start the second half, the Britons controlled the ball for the first ten minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Albion drove its way down to the three-yard line when a fumbled snap on third down looked like it would force them to settle for a field goal attempt. However, Wheaton was flagged for lining up in the neutral zone and Orr finished the 12-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard TD run on the next play. The Albion PAT would be no good and the Thunder lead held at 21-15. Orr finished the day with 29 carries for 133 yards and two touchdowns.
After several change of possessions,
Jordan Roberts was intercepted by Albion's
Wes Dolen who returned the ball back to the Wheaton 37-yard line. With just five minutes remaining, the Britons drove down to a the Thunder 21-yard line before facing fourth-and-nine with no timeouts remaining. Krauss then hooked up with Brewer on a deep post route for the game-tying touchdown and Keegan Haggarty added the go-ahead PAT with 1:30 remaining, putting the Britons up 22-21.
Wheaton picked up a quick first down on the ensuing drive, but could not advance the ball past its own 43-yard line and the Britons were able to take over on downs and secure the victory.
Jordan Roberts was 11-for-20 through the air with two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked eight times during the course of the game.
Morgan Cook was the leading receiver with four catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Wheaton gained 248 yards of offense against Albion, with 140 passing yards and 108 rushing yards.The Britons had 276 total yards, with 172 yards on the ground, with 104 passing yards.
The Thunder defense was led by Vargyas with 10-1/2 tackles and an interception.
Brett Anderson (PICTURED RIGHT) tallied seven hits, with one-and-a-half tackles for loss.
Wheaton will next be in action at 1 PM on Saturday September 15, when they travel to Decorah, Iowa, to face the Norse of Luther College. The meeting will be the first-ever between the two schools.
