Wheaton at Elmhurst University

Wheaton beat Elmhurst University 23–19 on the road in Elmhurst, Ill. on Saturday, October 4, 2003. It was the fourth of 13 games logged in 2003, and it left Wheaton at 4-0. It was the 71st meeting with Elmhurst University, after which Wheaton led the series 46-18-7. Mike Swider was in his eighth season as head coach.

Wheaton holds on to beat Elmhurst 23-19 in its CCIW opener (Boxscore)

Elmhurst, Ill. (10/4) - Elmhurst and Wheaton opened conference

play this afternoon in a tightly contested game that saw four lead changes in

the second half, including two in the final five minutes of the game. Wheaton

emerged from today's game with a 23-19 victory to remain undefeated with a 4-0

record and a 1-0 mark in league play. Elmhurst drew its first loss of the year

to give the Bluejays a 3-1 record and a 0-1 CCIW record. Wheaton will host Millikin

next Saturday afternoon, while Elmhurst will entertain Carthage.

The

scoring in the dramatic second half began with 1:38 to play in the third quarter

and Wheaton holding on to a 12-7 lead when Elmhurst recovered a Wheaton fumble

at the Thunder nine-yard line. Two plays later Bluejay quarterback Dom Demma

and receiver Juan Quesada hooked up on a seven-yard touchdown pass to

give the hosts a 13-12 lead. A 27-yard field goal by Wheaton place-kicker Andrew

Day (PICTURED LEFT) with 14:54 to play in the game gave the Thunder a 15-13

lead to cap a six-play drive of 49 yards. Two plays help set up Day's field

goal as the drive was started by a 33-yard kickoff return by Chad Fenley

and on the second play of the drive quarterback Chad Bradley hit

junior receiver Brad Musso on a 45-yard toss. The next four drives saw

the two teams battle through a scoreless period of nearly five minutes. With

5:13 to play in the game Elmhurst took possession of the ball at its own 26-yard

line. On the first play of the drive Demma found Quesada on a 74-yard bomb to

help the hosts regain the lead with a 19-15 advantage as 5:01 remained in the

contest.

On the next drive Wheaton took the ball at its own 24-yard line and began to

march down the field, culminating in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Bradley

to Colin Sinclair in the back of the endzone with 1:43 to play in the

game to give Wheaton a 21-19 lead. A miscue on the snap of the ensuing point

after attempt forced holder Garrett Granberg to throw a pass that found

senior receiver Andrew King in the endzone for a 23-19 Thunder lead.

Bradley moved the Thunder down the field in the game winning 76-yard drive of

12 plays that included 67 passing yards, with 44 receiving yards for King.

On the next drive Demma drove the Bluejays down the field to the Wheaton 14-yard

line with 36-seconds left in the game and first-and-ten. Three incomplete passes

forced the Bluejays to go for the first down on a fourth-and-ten play at the

14-yard line. Elmhurst was forced into the situation due to its four-point deficit

that was the result of the two-point conversion on the missed extra point on

the previous drive. The Thunder defense swarmed in on Demma on the fourth down

play that resulted in a 17-yard sack. The Thunder sack gave the ball back to

Wheaton, as it was able to run out the clock and leave with an unblemished record.

Wheaton opened the game with a lengthy 14-play drive of 74 yards that lasted

6:05 and concluded with a 32-yard field goal by Day to give the Thunder a 3-0

lead with 8:55 to play in the first quarter. Wheaton's advantage became 6-0

with 11:20 to play in the second quarter with a 22-yard field goal by Day to

conclude a seven-play drive of 53 yards. With 6:03 to play in the first half

Bradley hit Musso for a 22-yard touchdown toss to give the Thunder a 12-0 lead.

Musso's reception in the endzone capped a 12-play drive of 61 yards that took

4:43 off of the clock. The Bluejays reached the endzone with 1:46 to play in

the first half when Eric Luna scored on a two-yard touchdown run that

made the Wheaton advantage 12-7 at halftime.

Wheaton

controlled the ball for much of the game, as the Thunder possessed the ball

for 36:56, with 96 offensive plays. Elmhurst had possession of the pigskin for

23:04 in 65 plays. Wheaton had 460 yards of total offense, averaging 4.8 yards

per play with 286 passing yards and 174 rushing. Elmhurst had 313 yards in the

game, averaging 4.8 yards per play with 265 yards through the air and 48 rushing

yards.

Bradley completed 19 of his 36 passing attempts for 286 yards with two touchdowns

and one interception. King caught seven of Bradley's passes for 97 yards and

Musso had five receptions for 119 yards with one touchdown catch. Day had a

solid day hitting three field goals with a 22-yarder, a 27-yard kick and a 32-yard

boot. Senior tailback Dan Price (PICTURED RIGHT) carried the ball 19

times for 85 yards and fellow tailback Garrett Granberg had 22 carries

for 59 yards.

Demma

paced the Elmhurst offense with 21 completions on 34 attempts for 265 yards

and two touchdown tosses. Quesada caught six passes for 146 yards with the tow

touchdown catches. Luna carried the ball 21 times for 49 yards and one touchdown.

Senior defensive back Shawn Wildt led the Thunder with 11 total tackles

and a quarterback sack of nine yards. Linebacker Tom McAndrews recorded

10 total tackles and senior defensive back Ty Gose had eight tackles.

Junior defensive tackle Marcos Gutierrez (PICTURED LEFT) made seven total

tackles, including 2 tackles for loss (-12 yards) with 1- sacks for 10 yards.

Senior linebacker Jeff Mumm made five tackles with two tackles for lost

yardage.

Matt Irps led the Elmhurst defense with 18 total tackles and David

Soccaras added 16 tackles, including a quarterback sack of seven yards.

Travis Rueckert added 14 tackles and Chris Dembosz added 13 tackles.

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