Albion, Mich. – The second ranked Wheaton football team closed out its non-conference schedule on Saturday afternoon with a road matchup at Albion College (0-2). The Thunder played well in all phases of the game today in earning a 45-3 victory against the Britons.
Wheaton got things rolling early today as the guests led 18-0 at the end of the first quarter. Freshman running back
Owen Yorke capitalized on his opportunities today as he scored on an 11-yard touchdown on the opening Thunder drive of the game. The Thunder two-point conversion after Yorke's touchdown was not converted as Wheaton led 6-0 with 11:51 remaining in first quarter. The Wheaton defense forced a three-and-out on Albion's first offensive drive and Wheaton's next drive started at the Britons' 46-yard line. On the first play of the drive, quarterback
Mark Forcucci threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Yorke and the PAT kick was converted as the Thunder went up 13-0 with 9:30 remaining in the opening quarter. A failed punt attempt by Albion gave Wheaton a safety that increased the Thunder lead to 15-0 with 8:30 left in the first quarter. The Thunder drive that followed was lengthy as it went 13 plays and took 8:01 off the clock. The drive concluded with a 34-yard field goal by
Peter Bertoni to extend the guests' lead to 18-0 with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Forcucci connected with
Seth Kortenhoeven (PICTURED RIGHT) on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 7:11 remaining in the second quarter. Wheaton's PAT kick that followed increased the Thunder lead to 25-0. The Britons reached the scoreboard with 2:00 left in the first half as they kicked a 30-yard field to account for a 25-3 Thunder advantage. Bertoni converted a 25-yard field goal as time expired to end the first half as the Thunder led 28-3 at the intermission.
The two teams played a scoreless third quarter and then
Matt Crider reached the end zone on a five-yard touchdown run with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter to extend the Thunder lead to 35-3. About two minutes later, Kortenhoeven returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown that extended the Thunder lead to 42-3 with 10:47 left in the game. Wheaton's final score of the afternoon was a 21-yard field goal by
Caleb Ryan that came with 2:28 left in the game and accounted for the 45-3 final score.
Wheaton tallied 431 yards of total offense with 297 yards through the air and 134 yards on the ground. Thanks to strong effort by the Wheaton defense, Albion had just 153 yards of total offense with only 36 rushing yards and 117 passing yards.
All-American linebacker
Zeke Harris (PICTURED LEFT) tallied a game-high 11 total tackles.
Brett Dieter (PICTURED LEFT) registered seven tackles with an interception.
Luke Heggie added seven tackles, with a fumble recovery and a QB hurry.
Maxton Leathers (-8 yards) and
Jeremy Johanik (-23 yards) each had a sack. Additionally, David Harvin,
Colin Moore,
Ethan Brunner (PICTURED LEFT) and
Chase Jennings each recorded a tackle for lost yardage.
Forcucci completed 18 of his 30 passing attempts (60%), with 284 passing yards and two touchdown passes. Receiver
Caleb Titherington caught four passes for 59 yards and
Aaron Nussbaum had four receptions for 29 yards.
Sam McFadden caught two passes for a team-high 78 yards, highlighted by the game's longest reception, a 72-yard catch.
Crider ran the ball 16 times for 83 yards with the fourth-quarter touchdown run. Yorke recorded 94 all-purpose yards with 23 yards on the ground, 55 yards on the ground and 16 kickoff return yards. Kortenhoeven had 170 all-purpose yards with 138 punt return yards and 38 receiving yards.
The Thunder open conference play next Saturday against Millikin. The matchup against the Big Blue kicks off at 6:00 p.m. at McCully Stadium.
