Wheaton vs Elmhurst University

Wheaton beat Elmhurst University 62–7 at home in Wheaton, Ill. on Saturday, October 5, 2002. It was the fourth of twelve games logged in 2002, and it left Wheaton at 3-1. It was the 70th meeting with Elmhurst University, after which Wheaton led the series 45-18-7. Mike Swider was in his seventh season as head coach.

Thunder gridders roll over Elmhurst 62-7 (Boxscore)

Wheaton,

Ill. (10/5) - The Wheaton College Thunder (3-1/1-0 CCIW) picked

up a third straight victory with a 62-7 win over Elmhurst (2-2/0-1 CCIW) today

in front of a capacity crowd on homecoming at Wheaton's McCully Field. Wheaton

will return to action when it travels to Decatur next Saturday to face Millikin

(4-0/1-0 CCIW) in a conference battle that will be broadcast on WETN radio

at 88.1 FM and on the internet at www.wetn.org.

In Wheaton's three straight victories the Thunder have averaged

53.3 points a game. Junior quarterback Chad Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton

North) set a school single-game record with an 82.6% completion percentage

as he connected on 19 of his 23 passing attempts for 253 yards with three

touchdowns and no interceptions. Bradley (PICTURED LEFT) passed the previous

school record for completion percentage of 82.4% (14-17) set by Scott Hall

against Millikin on October 23, 1974.

The Thunder offense came into today's game ranked fourth in

Division III in total offense and Wheaton did not disappoint. The Thunder

racked up 467 yards of total offense with 260 passing yards and 207 rushing

yards on 70 plays for an average of 6.7 yards per play. Elmhurst gained just

162 yards of total offense on 75 plays for an average of 2.2 yards per play

as the Bluejays passed for 102 yards today and ran for 60 yards.

In addition to Bradley's stellar effort under center Wheaton

received contributions from a number of players. Wheaton had 13 players carry

the ball for the team's 207 rushing yards and seven different players caught

a total of 20 Thunder passes. Junior wide receiver Andrew King (Vista,

Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) caught six passes for 80 yards with two touchdowns.

Sophomore Brad Musso (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central), the reigning

CCIW Co-"Offensive Player of the Week", caught five passes for 64 yards with

one touchdown. Senior receiver Jonathan Wills (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour)

caught four passes for 59 yards. Freshman reserve Isaac Boyd (San Diego,

Calif./Santa Fe Christian) carried the ball twice for 44 yards, thanks largely

to a 40-yard touchdown run. Junior Dan Price (Monument, Colo./Lewis

Palmer) ran the ball 14 times for 37 yards with one touchdown.

Defensively senior tri-captain Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa/Ames)

made 12 total tackles (three solo) with a pass break-up and 1 tackles for

lost yardage (-8 yards). Junior defensive back Michael Drach (Marshfield,

Wis./Marshfield) made eight total tackles (three solo) with three pass break-ups.

Senior linebacker Kevin Sellers also recorded eight takcles and defensive

tackle John Diggs (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) made six total

tackles with 1 tackles for lost yardage (-7 yards), an assisted sack (-4

yards) and a forced fumble. Senior defensive lineman Chad Isaacson

(Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) made six total tackles with three tackles for

lost yardage (-18 yards) and two quarterback sacks (-17 yards).

Quarterback Anthony Diaferio completed nine passes on

17 attempts for 64 yards with an interception. Freshman Dominic Demma

started the game for the Bluejays and complete six of his 15 attempts for

38 yards with one interception. Bluejay running back Eric Luna was

Elmhurst's leading rusher with 54 yards on 10 carries. Receiver Juan Quesada

was the guests' leading rusher with six catches for 38 yards. The Bluejays'

leading tackler was Benitez Brown made a game-high 12 total tackles

with a forced fumble. Chris Dembosz made nine total tackles with a

fumble recovery.

Wheaton's first points on the scoreboard came when senior Shawn

Wildt (Victoria, Texas/Victoria) intercepted a Demma pass and returned

it 66 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 Wheaton lead with 11:40 to play in

the first quarter. Senior fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert

Vista) gave Wheaton a 14-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run with 5:40 to play

in the first quarter. Noonan's touchdown capped an eight-play drive of 75

yards. With 3:03 left in the first quarter King caught a six-yard pass in

the end zone from Bradley to give Wheaton a 21-0 advantage and cap a fie-play

drive of 34 yards. Freshman place kicker Esteban Lopez (Claremont,

Calif./Claremont) kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:11 to play in the first

quarter to give the hosts a 24-0 lead.

Elmhurst put its only points on the scoreboard with a 14-yard

touchdown toss from Diaferio to Mike Zhou to cut Wheaton's lead to

24-7 with 9:09 to play in the second quarter. With 7:15 to play in the second

quarter Bradley and King connected on a nine-yard touchdown pass to cap a

five-play drive of 56 yards. The touchdown drive was setup by two pass plays

between Bradley and Musso that accounted for 35 of the drive's 56 yards. With

2:24 to play in the first half Lopezgave the hosts a 34-7 lead with a 28-yard

field goal.

Wheaton opened its third quarter scoring when Bradley found

Musso on a six-yard touchdown that gave the Thunder a 41-7 lead with 13:45

to play in the third quarter. The key play of the four-play drive of 61 yards

was a 31-yard pass from Bradley to King. On the next drive Elmhurst punter

Brian Parker was tackled on his own one-yard line to setup a one-yard touchdown

run by Mike Whalen Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley) that gave Wheaton a

48-7 lead with 11:39 to play in the third quarter. With 12:07 to play in the

game Price scored on a three-yard touchdown run, that capped a seven-play

drive of 35 yards and gave Wheaton a 55-7 lead. Wheaton's final touchdown

came with 00:34 to play in the game when Boyd scored on a 40-yard scamper

and gave Wheaton the final score of 62-7.

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