Official recap · Wheaton College Athletics, wheaton.edu
Lightning delays an eventual 48-7 Thunder victory against Hope
Wheaton, Ill. (9/24) The Wheaton Thunder football team, ranked ninth in this week's AFCA Coaches Poll, defeated Hope College 48-7 (Boxscore) this afternoon at Wheaton's McCully Field. A lightning delay of one hour and 13 minutes occurred in the second half of today's game, as the contest concluded almost four hours after it started. Wheaton (3-0) will open its conference schedule against North Central next Saturday night in a 7 PM kickoff in Naperville. Hope falls to 0-3 on the season.
Wheaton racked up 496 yards of total offense, with 266 passing yards and 230 rushing yards. Hope accumulated 210 yards of offense, including 35 rushing yards. Hope passed for 175 yards, but allowed seven quarterback sacks.
Senior tailback Luke Bazacas (LEFT) carried the ball 25 times for 170 yards, with two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Jeremy Chupp completed 17 of his 28 passing attempts for 246 yards, with three touchdown passes. Joe Chupp caught five passes for 79 yards, with one touchdown reception and Chris Fossum caught four passes for 70 yards with a touchdown catch. Fullback Brad Thornton and receiver Noah Dreyer each had touchdown receptions.
Senior middle linebacker Jeff Grandy (RIGHT) made six total tackles, with 2-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-8 yards) and four quarterback hurries. Defensive backs Pete Ittersagen and Tim March each made five tackles. Defensive end Andy Studebaker recorded four total tackles, with two quarterback sacks (-16 yards) and three tackles for lost yardage (-18 yards), with a forced fumble that he recovered and a quarterback hurry. Linebacker Steve Pagh had four total tackles with two tackles for loss (-15 yards), including a quarterback sack of 12 yards. Defensive back Tom Molenkamp and Jonathan Toal each made four total tackles.
Hope quarterback Joe Schwander completed 14 of his 37 passing attempts for 175 yards, with one touchdown pass. Jack Kiefer was Hope's leading receiver with six catches for 94 yards and David Booko carried the ball 13 times for 41 yards. Zach Huizing led the Flying Dutchmen defense with 17 total tackles and an interception.
Wheaton scored on the very first drive of the game when Jeremy Chupp (LEFT) threw a 10-yard touchdown toss to Joe Chupp with 12:43 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 Thunder lead. The two twins setup their touchdown two plays earlier when they connected for a 36-yard pass to put Wheaton in the red-zone, in fact the Chupp brothers connected on three passes for 62 yards during the six-play, 74-yard drive. Wheaton 's lead increased to 10-0 with 7:07 left in the first quarter when senior Andrew Day kicked a 30-yard field goal to cap a 14-play drive of 64 yards. Day's field goal was the 27th of his four-year career, to give him outright possession of Wheaton 's record for career field goals. He entered the game tied at 26 career boots with Bob Unruh (1975-78). Hope's lone touchdown of the game came with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter Schwander threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Brady Wilson to cut Wheaton's lead to 10-7.
Day booted his second 30-yard field goal with 12:50 left in the second quarter to cap a 12-play drive of 51 yards and increase the hosts' lead to 13-7. Jeremy Chupp found Thornton on a nine-yard touchdown connection to increase the Thunder lead to 20-7 with 8:58 left in the second half. With 6:55 left in the second quarter the officials delayed the game due to lightning in the area. The delay lasted one hour and 13 minutes. Once play resumed Wheaton returned to the field and picked up where it left off as Jeremy Chupp threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Fossum, as Wheaton held a 27-7 lead at halftime.
Bazacas reached the end zone on a five-yard touchdown run with 11:11 left in the third quarter to give the Thunder a 34-7 lead. Bazacas' touchdown was setup two plays earlier when Jeremy Chupp threw a 30-yard pass to sophomore Matt Bradley that put Wheaton at the Hope two-yard line. Bazacas' second touchdown of the day came with 12:50 left in the game on a four-yard scamper into the end zone that increased Wheaton 's lead to 41-7. One play before his touchdown Bazacas broke off a 57-yard run to set up the TD. Quarterback Frank Andrews connected with Noah Dreyer on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 7:29 left in the game for the 48-7 final score.
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