Wheaton vs Illinois Wesleyan University

Wheaton beat Illinois Wesleyan University 26–17 at home in Wheaton, Ill. on Saturday, October 25, 2003. It was the seventh of 13 games logged in 2003, and it left Wheaton at 7-0. It was the 48th meeting with Illinois Wesleyan University, after which Wheaton led the series 24-22-2. Mike Swider was in his eighth season as head coach.

#5-Wheaton sets a new school record with a 26-17 win over Illinois Wesleyan (Boxscore)

Wheaton, Ill. (10/25) - The Wheaton College

Thunder, ranked fifth in this week's D3Football.com Top 25, improved its record

to 7-0 and 4-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) with

a 26-17 victory over Illinois Wesleyan (3-4/1-3 CCIW) this afternoon. The next

game for the Thunder is a 2 PM kickoff next Saturday at North Central in the

annual battle for the "Little Brass Bell".

Today's

win was the 16th consecutive regular season victory for the Thunder, establishing

a new school record. Wheaton's last defeat in the regular season was a 23-16

loss at Alma College in the 2002 season opener. The previous school-record for

a regular season win streak was a 15-game string put together in the 1995-96

seasons.

Wheaton amassed 507 yards of total offense, averaging 6.3 yards

per play on the afternoon. The Thunder threw for 266 yards and gained another

241 yards on the ground. Senior quarterback Chad Bradley (LEFT) completed

22 of his 32 passing attempts for 266 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Senior receiver Andrew King caught 10 passes for 100 yards and Brad

Musso snagged seven receptions for 103 yards with one touchdown catch. Colin

Sinclair caught four passes for 51 yards with two touchdowns. Senior tailback

Dan Price carried the ball 21 times for 102 yards and junior Garrett

Granberg had 11 rushes for 67 yards.

Senior strong safety Shawn Wildt (LEFT) made a team-high

nine total tackles with three pass deflections and a 16-yard interception return.

Senior cornerback Michael Drach made seven tackles, while linebackers

Jeff Mumm and Tom McAndrews each made six tackles. Linebacker

Jason McDearmon made five total tackles with a 10-yard quarterback sack

and defensive end Tim Cryer also had five tackles with a quarterback

sack of six yards. Nate Lee added five tackles with a tackle for lost

yardage (-2 yards).

Illinois Wesleyan collected 342 yards of offense with 214 passing

yards and 128 rushing yards for an average of 4.6 yards per play. Titan quarterback

Steve Lucas completed 19 of his 42 passing attempts for 214 yards with

one touchdown and an interception. Receiver Eric White caught eight passes

for 104 yards with a touchdown catch and Bob Cullen caught six passes

for 70 yards. Fullback Rick Alvis carried the ball 11 times for 60 yards

and Titan tailback Ryan Spellman had 11 rushes for 55 yards.

Titan free safety Josh Addis made a game-high 13 total

tackles with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Cornerback Vince Heaton

made 10 tackles and had a 65-yard interception return, while Mike Clark

made nine tackles for the guests.

A

Thunder fumble at the Titan 23-yard line on the opening drive of the game led

to the first points of the contest. Eight plays after Illinois Wesleyan recovered

the fumble, Titan senior Brian Klesath kicked a 24-yard field goal to

give the guests a 3-0 lead with 8:01 to play in the first quarter. Wheaton took

a 6-3 lead with 3:00 to play in the first quarter when Bradley made a 12-yard

pinpoint pass to Musso in the end zone to conclude a seven-play drive of 63

yards. Wheaton fumbled at the Illinois Wesleyan three-yard line on the next

drive and the Titans capitalized again as Lucas found White on a six-yard touchdown

pass eight plays later for a 10-6 Titan lead with 10:45 to play in the second

quarter. Wheaton regained the lead with 42-seconds left in the first half when

Bradley threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sinclair (RIGHT) for a 13-10 Thunder

lead. Sinclair's touchdown catch deep in the right corner of the end zone concluded

a strong 10-play drive of 71 yards.

With 8:26 to play in the third quarter Bradley threw an eight-yard touchdown

pass to Sinclair to give the Thunder a 19-10 lead. On Wheaton's next drive of

the game Heaton intercepted a Bradley pass and returned 65 yards into the end

zone to cut the Wheaton lead to 19-17 with 6:08 to play in the third quarter.

With 48-seconds left in the third quarter Bradley made a three-yard touchdown

run to give the Thunder a 26-17 lead and it was the final play of a 12-play,

74-yard scoring drive. With 5:20 left in the game and Wheaton maintaining its

26-17 lead, Illinois Wesleyan was driving down the field and had the ball at

the Wheaton 30-yard line when Wildt (LEFT) intercepted a Lucas pass at the Thunder

one-yard line. Wildt returned the interception 16 yards and prevented a potential

scoring opportunity for the guests in a key defensive stop for the Thunder.

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