Wheaton vs Augustana College (IL)

Wheaton beat Augustana College (IL) 39–38 at home in Rock Island, Ill. on Saturday, November 13, 2004. It was the tenth of twelve games logged in 2004, and it left Wheaton at 9-1. It was the 49th meeting with Augustana College (IL), after which Wheaton trailed the series 21-26-2. Mike Swider was in his ninth season as head coach.

A dramatic 39-38 Thunder victory at Augustana gives Wheaton its third straight CCIW Championship (Boxscore)

PICTURED LEFT: Head coach Mike Swider celebrates a third straight CCIW Championship with his team after a dramatic 39-38 win at Augustana on Saturday. Special thanks to Steve Woltmann for providing this photograph.

Story written by student sports information assistant Jason Bailey.

Rock Island, Ill. (11/13) - In dramatic fashion once again, the Wheaton Thunder football team (9-1) defeated the Augustana Vikings (7-3/5-2) in Rock Island, Illinois in the last game of the regular season. With a last-second 39-38 victory, the Thunder finished the regular season with a 6-1 record in the conference, enabling the team to share the 2004 CCIW championship with the Carthage Redmen, who finished the season with an identical 6-1 conference record. The CCIW Title is Wheaton's third consecutive league championship and fourth in five seasons. The Thunder becomes the first program since Augustana (1986-1988) to win three consecutive league titles.

Carthage has earned the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, the first in school history, because of its 39-21 victory over Wheaton earlier in the season. Wheaton, however, may still earn an at-large bid to the playoffs thanks to a 9-1 overall record, with its only loss of the year coming against Carthage. The Division III Playoff brackets will be released on ESPNews at 12 p.m. CST on Sunday, November 13th. Expectations are high and head coach Mike Swider remains confident about the current situation: There is a very strong possibility [of making the playoffs] I mean I think we are in. I personally believe we are in. If Wheaton makes the playoffs, information will be posted here on the Wheaton Athletics Website by 1 PM regarding the Thunder opponent and location.

Entering today's game, three of the last four meetings between Augustana and Wheaton have been determined in the last minute of regulation or in overtime. Last year, Wheaton quarterback Chad Bradley completed a winning 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andrew King with 22 seconds left in the game. This year was no different, as Wheaton running back Garrett Granberg (PICTURED RIGHT) scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with only 43 seconds remaining in the game, cutting the Augustana lead to 38-37.

After taking two timeouts, the Thunder offense returned to the field to attempt what would become the game-winning two-point-conversion. On a rollout to his right, quarterback Jeremy Chupp tucked the ball and dove into the end zone, clinching Wheaton 's third consecutive CCIW Championship.

At the suggestion of his coaching staff, Swider decided to attempt the two-point conversion instead of a potentially game-tying extra point. Augustana was struggling with our offense, explained Swider. And I'm going to make it a one-play game and put it in the hands of the best offense in America.

On 41 carries, Viking quarterback Matt Roe rushed for a school-record 342 yards and three touchdowns. Overall, Augustana rushed for 509 yards, attempting only two passes, both incomplete, before the final drive of the game.

Wheaton amassed 443 yards of total offense, with 261 passing yards and 182 rushing yards. Granberg carried much of the load for Wheaton, rushing for 115 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. With his performance, Granberg passed Steve Holland (1986-89) to become the second-leading rusher in Wheaton history. Granberg currently has 2,817 yards in his career and is only 362 behind the 3,179 yards recorded by Pedro Arruza (1992-95). Granberg also now has 1,225 rushing yards on the season, moving him into second place on the school's single-season rushing record, just 38 yards behind the school single-season record of 1,262 yards gained by Dan Price last season. Wide receiver Brad Musso (PICTURED LEFT) also reached a career milestone by catching nine balls for 121 yards. Musso became only the ninth player in Division III history to gain 4,000 yards receiving in a career and finished the game in seventh place, with 4,078 career receiving yards. Musso also now has 240 career receptions, surpassing the old school record of 232 career receptions by Mark Loeffler (1993-96). Chupp completed 19 of his 33 passing attempts for 261 yards with one touchdown pass and the critical scoring run on the two-point conversion.

Wheaton cornerback Muhammad Weusi intercepted a desperation pass on the final play of the game and finished with five tackles; linebacker Phil Montes led the team with 13 tackles, while defensive end Jason Isaacson (PICTURED RIGHT) finished with 12. The Augustana defense was led by linebacker Matt Sikorski, who had seven tackles and helped limit Wheaton to 23:57 in the time of possession battle.

Both defenses played well on their opening drives, as Augustana forced a three-and-out before giving the ball back to Wheaton on a fumble in their own territory. The Thunder capitalized on the turnover by calling 10 consecutive running plays, which set up Granberg to score his first touchdown of the game with 9:23 left in the first quarter.

Augustana responded quickly on the ensuing drive to make the score 7-3. A 56-yard rush by running back Jeffrey McDowell enabled All-American kicker Michael Clark to convert a 21-yard field goal. With a combination of running and passing plays, Granberg scored another Wheaton touchdown to extend its lead to 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The scoring continued in the second quarter, as Augustana drove 62 yards in 14 plays to set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown by McDowell, making the game 14-10. After receiving a short kickoff, Wheaton mounted its own time-consuming drive 50 yards in 13 plays before kicker Andrew Day scored on a 29-yard field goal.

Augustana was unable to score on the next drive, but took 7:49 off the clock and pinned Wheaton inside its own 1-yard line with a perfectly placed 36-yard punt by Clark. Escaping the shadow of its goalposts, Wheaton entered the locker room at halftime with a 24-10 lead by moving the ball 99 yards in 91 seconds, an impressive drive capped off by a nine-yard rushing touchdown by Granberg.

Augustana continued the theme of long scoring drives after receiving the opening kickoff of the second half; Roe rushed for a seven-yard touchdown to conclude a 15-play, 71 yard drive that consumed 7:23 off the clock. After narrowing the Wheaton lead to 24-17, Augustana quickly gained control of the ball as cornerback Tom Anthony intercepted a Chupp pass at midfield.

After the turnover, Augustana rushed the ball to the 25-yard line before the drive stalled because of two straight missed opportunities Roe underthrew tight end Jon Sebby on third down and Clark missed a 42-yard field goal on fourth down.

With the ball back in its hands at the start of the fourth quarter, Wheaton attempted to convert a fourth-and-one at its own 45-yard line, a risky move that turned against them. After Augustana linebacker Steve Szpejnowski stopped Granberg short of the marker, the inspired Vikings tied the game at 24-24 on the very next play, a 45-yard rushing touchdown by Roe.

The next two drives consisted of back-to-back punts, but were only a brief respite from the scoring explosion that would follow. With 7:03 left in the game, Wheaton scored on a 21-yard touchdown reception by fullback Skip Ast, a screen pass that was barely thrown over the outstretched hands of a Viking defender. Wasting no time, Augustana tied the game 31-31 in the next two minutes fullback Tukes Ayangbil bulled into the end zone from the Thunder one-yard line after a 69-yard rush by Roe.

After forcing Wheaton to punt, Augustana took its first lead of the game on a 20-yard rushing touchdown by Roe with 2:46 left in the game. Facing a 38-31 deficit with time winding off the clock, Chupp completed five of his eight passes before handing the ball off to Granberg, who scored a five-yard rushing touchdown. The following two-point-conversion proved to be the last points scored in the high-powered 39-38 game, as Augustana was unable to move into field goal range.

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