Official recap · Wheaton College Athletics, wheaton.edu
Third-ranked Thunder tops Hope 45-28 (Boxscore)
Holland, Mich. (9/25) The Wheaton Thunder football team (3-0) tallied over 600 yards of total offense today as it recorded a 45-28 victory at Hope College (1-2). Today's win was the 22 nd consecutive regular season win for the Thunder. The Thunder came into this afternoon's game ranked third in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches Poll. Wheaton will open CCIW play next Saturday when North Central comes to McCully Field for a 1 PM kickoff. Saturday's game will be broadcast on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at www.wetn.org The game will also be carried on WETN-TV, cable channel 72 in the Wheaton area and with live streaming video on the internet at www.wetn.org.
The Thunder tallied 630 yards of total offense today, with 380 passing yards and 250 rushing yards. Wheaton ran an amazing 99 plays, averaging 6.4 yards per play. The Thunder offensive line was a key factor in contributing to the tremendous success of the offense. Hope had 418 yards of total offense, with 286 passing yards and 132 rushing yards.
Thunder quarterback Jeremy Chupp completed 69 percent of his passes with 27 completions on 39 attempts for 331 yards and two touchdown tosses. Chupp also carried the ball nine times, for 64 yards with one touchdown run. Senior receiver Brad Musso (PICTURED LEFT) caught 13 passes for 197 yards with two touchdown receptions. Fellow senior receiver Colin Sinclair had eight receptions for 98 yards with one touchdown catch. Junior Nate Mealy made five grabs for 57 receiving yards. Senior tailback Garrett Granberg carried the ball 35 times for 153 yards, with one touchdown run.
Senior linebacker Jeff Grandy recorded nine total tackles to lead the Thunder defense. Defensive back Todd Travis and made seven total tackles, broke-up two passes and blocked a Hope field goal attempt in the third quarter. Linebacker Nate Odom made six total tackles. Senior defensive back Mike Lindberg had an interception. Junior Muhammad Weusi (PICTURED RIGHT, WITH LINDBERG) made three tackles and broke-up three passes.
Hope quarterback Joe Schwander completed 13 of his 37 passing attempts for 286 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Schwander also carried the ball five times for 61 yards. Receiver Jake Schrock recorded 170 receiving yards on five catches with four touchdown receptions. Paul Burgess was Hope's leading ball carrier with 65 yards on 18 carries.
Linebacker Paul Hoeksema was Hope's leading tackler with 20 total tackles. Mitch Cumings added 19 tackles with an interception and a fumble recovery. Nick Oostveen tallied 17 total tackles. Jason Misner was credited with 16 total tackles and Tim Keur made 11 tackles with a forced fumbles and an interception.
The Thunder started the scoring with 10:12 to play in the first quarter when Chupp (PICTURED LEFT) threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Musso. Musso's touchdown catch concluded 12-play drive of 72 yards in 4:42. The key play in the drive came on third down and 12 yards to go at the 50 yard line when Chupp threaded the ball the Hope defense to Sinclair for a 23-yard completion that gave the Thunder a first down. The Flying Dutchmen countered with a touchdown as 8:59 remained in the first quarter when Schwander threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Schrock to tie the game at 7-7. The Thunder regained the lead with 1:02 to play in the first quarter when fullback Drew Thornfeldt scored on a four-yard touchdown run to give the guests a 14-7 advantage. Hope tied the game at 14-14 with 14:01 to play in the second quarter when Schwander threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Schrock. Wheaton retaliated quickly with a halfback pass on the second play of the next drive when Granberg threw a 49-yard pass to Musso to take a 21-14 lead with 13:40 to play in the first half. On the second play of the next drive Chupp connected with Sinclair on a 29-yard touchdown pass to increase the Thunder lead to 28-14. The Thunder lead increased to 31-14 following a 23-yard field goal by junior Andrew Day that capped a 13-play drive of 62 yards. The Flying Dutchmen trimmed Wheaton 's lead to 31-21 when Schwander threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Schrock with 1:58 remaining in the first half.
Schwander threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Schrock with 14:04 left in the third quarter as the Flying Dutchmen cut the Thunder lead to 31-28. Wheaton followed with a 15-play drive of 74 yards that ended with an eight-yard touchdown run by Granberg with 9:18 to play in the third quarter to increase its lead to 38-28. The Thunder lead improved to 45-28 with 9:18 left in the game when Chupp scored on a two-yard run. With 8:55 to play in the game Lindberg intercepted a Schwander pass at the Thunder two-yard line. The Wheaton offense ran 18 plays, including 17 rushes with some strong play from the front line to consume the final 8:55 of the game to secure the win.
Read it in the news archive →
