Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton football team outlasted the host Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University (3-1, 1-1 CCIW) on Saturday in a road CCIW matchup. The Thunder topped IWU 28-7 as the guests led 21-0 at halftime.
Wheaton improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in CCIW play. Wheaton entered today's game ranked second in the most recent American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Top-25 poll and third in the D3football.com Top-25 poll. The Thunder return home next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against North Park for Wheaton's Homecoming game.
Wheaton's offense was quieted on the first offensive drive of the game as the Titans intercepted a pass that was returned to the end zone, however, the touchdown was nullified by an IWU penalty that gave the hosts the ball at their own 15-yard line. The Thunder defense forced a three-and-out on the Titans' drive that followed and the IWU punt was returned 56 yards by senior
Seth Kortenhoeven (PICTURED LEFT) for a Wheaton touchdown. Kicker
Caleb Ryan's PAT kick was good as Wheaton gained a 7-0 lead with 8:37 left in the first quarter.
The Wheaton defense again forced an IWU punt on the Titans' offensive drive that followed. Thunder running back
Matt Crider had 28 rushing yards on the Wheaton drive that followed, including a four-yard touchdown run. A Ryan PAT followed the score as Wheaton increased its lead to 14-0 with 14:55 left in the second quarter.
Wheaton's third offensive drive of the first half also produced a touchdown. The seven-play drive of 93 yards culminated with a five-yard touchdown pass from
Mark Forcucci to
Matt Crider (PICTURED RIGHT). Ryan converted the PAT as Wheaton increased its lead to 21-0 with 7:14 left in the first half. The Wheaton defense continued its strong play on the Titans' next drive as David Harvin intercepted a Titan pass at the Wheaton 10-yard line and returned it 22 yards to the Thunder 32-yard line.
Illinois Wesleyan scored on their first offensive drive of the third quarter. Titan quarterback Kyle Beaty threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Deacy to put the hosts on the scoreboard. IWU converted the PAT kick as they cut Wheaton's lead to 21-7 with 11:13 left in the third quarter. Wheaton was unable to score on its first drive of the second half. The Wheaton defense capitalized on the Titans' drive that followed. Illinois Wesleyan was deep in its own territory when
Brett Dieter intercepted the Titan pass at the hosts' 44-yard line, and he returned it 28 yards to the IWU 16-yard line. Five plays after the interception, Forcucci threw a six-yard touchdown pass to
Aaron Nussbaum. Ryan converted his fourth PAT kick of the day as Wheaton extended its lead to 28-7 with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
Illinois Wesleyan started the fourth quarter with an 18-play drive and pushed the ball into the red zone. The Titans had the ball at first-and-goal at the Wheaton six-yard line. Two of the next three IWU plays were pass incompletions as Harvin had a key pass breakup. The Titans went for it at the one-yard line on fourth down and Thunder linebacker
Zeke Harris broke through for a tackle for loss of three yards on the IWU rushing attempt, as the hosts turned the ball over on downs. The defensive stop was critical in stopping the Titans' momentum as the Thunder emerged with the 28-7 victory.
Forcucci completed 20 if his 30 passing attempts, as he threw for 221 yards with two touchdown tosses. Kortenhoeven caught nine passes for 99 yards.
Caleb Titherington had two receptions for 39 yards. Crider ran for 70 yards with the touchdown run and he had two receptions for 11 yards, including the touchdown catch.
Wheaton totaled 312 yards of offense as the guests passed for 221 yards with 91 rushing yards. Illinois Wesleyan had 313 yards of offense in the game, with 303 passing yards, including 190 passing yards in the second half. The Wheaton defense held the Titans' rushing game to just 10 yards on the ground for the game.
Harris and
Caleb Coburn led the Thunder defense with seven total tackles apiece. Harris had the key tackle for loss and Coburn registered a sack (-3 yards) .
Eli Reeves (PICTURED LEFT) had six total tackles and
Maison Haas added five tackles. Dieter and Harvin each had an interception for the guests. Defensive lineman
Chandler Bryant had two sacks (-13 yards) and
Jordan Johnson added sack of four yards.
