GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Senior linebacker Brett Anderson recorded 12 total tackles and intercepted two passes.
Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton football team dropped a 30-19 decision at Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon in a battle of nationally-ranked and undefeated teams. Wheaton, ranked 10th in this week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll, is now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in CCIW play. Illinois Wesleyan, ranked 17th in the same poll, is now 7-0 overall and 4-0 in CCIW action.
Wheaton recorded 266 yards of offense for the game, with 186 passing yards and 80 rushing yards. The Titans totaled 411 yards of offense, with 267 passing yards and 144 yards on the ground. Illinois Wesleyan was 9-of-17 on third-down conversion attempts in the game and the Titans capitalized on three Thunder fumbles.
Wheaton quarterback
Jordan Roberts was 17-for-31 on passing attempts today, with 186 passing yards. He also ran the ball 13 times for 22 yards.
Matt Mitchell (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder receiving corps with seven catches for 81 yards.
Jesse Geary was the top rusher for Wheaton, with 13 carries for 33 yards. Kicker/punter
Sam Cote made two field goals on the day with a 30-yarder and a career-long 53-yarder. Cote also kicked a pair of punts, averaging 41 yards per punt, with both kicks landing inside the Titans' 20-yard line.
Senior linebacker
Brett Anderson led the Thunder defense with 12 total tackles, including seven solo stops. Anderson also intercepted two Titan passes. Defensive tackle
Brandon Dykstra (PICTURED RIGHT) tallied nine total tackles, including seven solos, with one tackle for lost yardage (-1 yard). Linebacker
Adam Dansdill also made nine total tackles, including 1-1/2 tackles for lost yardage of seven yards.
Wheaton put the first points on the scoreboard when Cote (PICTURED LEFT) booted a 30-yard field goal with 9:14 remaining in the first quarter to cap Wheaton's first drive of the game, a 15-play drive. Illinois Wesleyan's Michael Kelley responded with a 38-yard field to tie the game at 3-3 with 6:46 left in the first quarter.
Anderson intercepted an IWU pass early in the second quarter, however the ensuing Wheaton drive stalled and the Thunder missed a 47-yard field goal attempt that would have give Wheaton a lead. The Titans responded following the field goal attempt with an eight-play drive of 70 yards that culminated with a 10-yard touchdown pass by Titan quarterback Rob Gallik to Alex Garvey, giving the hosts a 10-3 lead with 7:25 remaining in the second quarter. A Wheaton fumble with 1:12 remaining in the first half gave the Titans the ball at the Thunder 26-yard line. The Wheaton defense kept the hosts' offense from reaching the end zone and Kelley kicked a 20-yard field with 21-seconds left in the first half to increase the IWU lead to 13-3. Thunder senior
Justin Swider returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards and a Titan penalty on the short kickoff added another 15 yards for the Thunder to give the guests the ball at their own 42-yard line with 15-seconds remaining in the first half. Roberts connected with Mitchell for a 22-yard pass on second-and-10 to setup Cote's career-long kick of 53 yards that cut the Illinois Wesleyan lead to 13-6 at halftime.
Kelley made his third field goal of the game with 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter to increase the Titans' lead to 16-6. Wheaton linebacker
Jordan Dornbush intercepted a Gallik pass at the Illinois Wesleyan 27-yard line with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter to give Wheaton outstanding field position. The Thunder took advantage of the Dornbush INT three plays later when
Danny Puknaitis reached the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run to cut the Titans' lead to 16-13 with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter.
The game continued go back-and-forth as Illinois Wesleyan responded with a three-yard touchdown pass by Gallik to increase the hosts' lead to 23-13 with 14:54 left in the fourth quarter. It was Wheaton's turn to respond. Wheaton put together a quick scoring drive that was highlighted by a 41-yard pass from Roberts to
Andrew Lindquist (PICTURED LEFT) and culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by
Stephen Seitz. Seitz's touchdown run with 12:26 remaining in regulation cut the IWU lead to 23-19; however, Wheaton missed the PAT attempt that followed.
The Titans fumbled the kickoff that followed Seitz's touchdown and Wheaton marched the ball down to the Illinois Wesleyan two-yard line, however, a Thunder fumble gave IWU the ball at its own five-yard line. The Titans put together a 95-yard drive that consumed more than eight minutes of the clock and culminated with a 22-yard touchdown run by T.J. Stinde to increase the Illinois Wesleyan lead to 30-19 with 2:34 remaining in the game. The Titan defense stopped Wheaton on four plays for the next drive to secure the win for the hosts.
The Thunder will return to action next Saturday in a 1 PM kickoff at Millikin.
