Wheaton at Alma College

Wheaton beat Alma College 42–14 on the road in Alma, Mich. on Saturday, November 23, 2002. It was the eleventh of twelve games logged in 2002 — first round of that year's NCAA Division III playoffs, and it left Wheaton at 10-1. It was the third meeting with Alma College, after which Wheaton led the series 2-1. Mike Swider was in his seventh season as head coach.

Wheaton Thunder Football 2002 Game Stories Thunder dominates Alma 42-14 in NCAA Playoff First Round Game (Boxscore)

Alma, Mich. (11/23) - The Wheaton football

team used its impressive talent on both sides of the ball in a commanding

42-14 win at Alma College today in the opening round of the NCAA Division

III Football playoffs. After holding a 14-0 halftime advantage Wheaton scored

21 points in the third quarter to break the game open.

Wheaton improves to 10-1 and will travel to top-ranked Mt. Union

College in Alliance, Ohio next Saturday for a NCAA Tournament Second-Round

battle. Today's victory avenged Wheaton's only loss of the regular season,

a 23-16 defeat at Alma on September 14. Alma ends the season with a 9-2 record.

Today's

victory tied Wheaton's school-record for wins in a single season with 10 that

was also accomplished in 1995 by the first Wheaton team to go the Division

III Playoffs. The Thunder also set a school-record for total offense in a

single-season with 5,466 yards of offense this year after racking up 458 yards

of offense today with 312 passing yards and 146 rushing yards. The impressive

Thunder defense held the Scots' offense to 206 yards of offense with 128 passing

yards and 78 rushing yards. Alma came into today's game with an average of

455.6 yards per game, and 271.6 passing yards per game.

Wheaton quarterback Chad Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./North)

completed 20 of his 32 passing attempts for 291 yards with one touchdown toss.

In the second half Bradley completed 10 of his 12 attempts for 168 yards.

Junior receiver Andrew King (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) caught

10 passes for 172 yards with a touchdown grab. Sophomore Brad Musso

(Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) made six receptions for 89 yards and senior

Jonathan Wills (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) made four catches for

40 yards. Tailback Garrett Granberg (Blanco, Texas/Blanco) carried

the ball 10 times for 73 yards with a touchdown. Junior Dan Price (Monument,

Colo./Lewis Palmer) carried the ball 19 times for 58 yards with three touchdowns.

Senior

linebacker Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa/Ames) led the Thunder defense with

eight total tackles and a quarterback sack (-5 yards). Fellow linebacker Kevin

Sellers (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista) made six total tackles with one

tackle for lost yardage of one yard. Senior defensive tackle Dane Lundgren

(Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View) played well with five total tackles, including

three quarterback sacks (-10 yards) and a fumble recovery. Junior cornerback

(PICTURED RIGHT) Michael Drach (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) made four

solo tackles with a key 25-yard interception return.

Alma quarterback Steve Slowke was 17-39 for 128 yards

with one touchdown, three interceptions six sacks. Receiver Mark Boehms

caught eight receptions for 62 yards with one touchdown. Slowke was the

Scots' leading rusher with 37 yards on 16 carries and James Edington

carried the ball five times for 26 yards. The Alma defense was led by Kevin

Vermeersch made 14 total tackles with a tackle for loss (1- yards). David

Simpson made 11 total tackles with two interceptions and forced two fumbles.

Wheaton

was first to put points on the scoreboard when Price scored on a six yard

run with 2:42 to play in the first quarter to give the Thunder a 6-0 advantage.

The key play of the six-play, 59-yard drive was a 22-yard pass from Bradley

to King (PICTURED LEFT) on third down. The scoring drive was setup when Drach

picked off a Slowke pass at the Thunder 16-yard line and returned it 25 yards

to the Wheaton 41-yard line. Wheaton took a 14-0 lead when Price scored on

a two-yard run on fourth and goal with 9:18 to play in the second quarter.

The combination of Bradley to King was again critical on the nine-play drive

of 63-yards when they hooked up for a 28-yard pass to put the Thunder on the

Scots' side of the field and seven plays later Price was in the end zone.

Wheaton held a 14-0 lead at halftime and the second half scoring

for the Thunder started with 7:50 to play in the third quarter when Price

scored on a two-yard run to give the Thunder a 21-0 advantage. Price's run

capped a two-play drive that was setup on a 48-yard punt return by Drach to

the Alma three-yard line. Wheaton took a 28-0 lead with 6:07 to play in the

third quarter when Bradley found King on a 59-yard pass that was fumbled at

the Alma four-yard line, but recovered by King in the end zone. The guests

took a 35-0 lead when Bradley scored on a one-yard run to cap an eight-play

drive of 61-yards with 1:43 to play in the third quarter. The key play of

the drive was a 30-yard pass from Bradley to Musso who was brought down at

the Alma seven-yard line and Bradley scored three plays later.

Wheaton gained a 42-0 lead with 11:15 to play in the game when

Granberg scored on a one yard-touchdown run. The touchdown was setup by a

stellar 40-yard run by Granberg as he was brought down just shy of the end

zone. The touchdown run by Granberg capped an eight-play drive of 73 yards.

The Scots reached the end zone for the first time with 7:16 to play in the

game when Slowke found Boehms on a nine-yard touchdown pass to cut the Thunder

lead to 42-7. The Scots made it 42-14 when they recovered a Thunder fumble

and returned it 69 yards into the end zone with 3:56 to play in the game,

but it was too little too late as Wheaton ran out the clock on the next drive

for the 42-14 final score.

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