Thunder football team falls to Carthage 35-30

Football

11/14/2009 4:46:35 PM

Thunder football team falls to Carthage 35-30

Senior Brian Hollett recorded 12 total tackles

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BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – Carthage College defeated Wheaton 35-30 on Saturday afternoon at Wheaton's McCully Stadium in the regular season finale for both teams. Today's contest was a back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes, including two touchdowns in the final 1:45 of the game. Carthage scored the final touchdown, which proved to be the game-winner, with 39-seconds left in the contest.

Wheaton concludes the season 7-3 overall and 4-3 in CCIW play. Carthage ends the year with a 7-3 overall record and a 4-3 mark in its conference schedule.

Wheaton recorded 380 yards of offense in the game, with 270 passing yards and 110 rushing yards. The Red Men had 471 yards of total offense, with 350 passing yards and 121 rushing yards.

Wheaton quarterback Sean Norris completed 25 of his 49 passing attempts for 270 yards, with three touchdowns. Senior Freddy Ellis caught eight passes for 123 yards, with one touchdown reception. Junior tailback Rocky Gingg carried the ball 12 times for 46 yards and sophomore Charlie Velling ran for 45 yards on 10 carries.

Senior linebacker Steven Lutes recorded a career-high 14 total tackles to lead the Wheaton defense in his final game for the Thunder. Senior safety Steven Lutes tallied 12 total tackles and junior Cory Hart added 10 tackles. Senior Bryan McBroom made seven total tackles, had three pass break-ups and an interception return for 22 yards.

Carthage quarterback Evan Jones completed 40 of his 56 passing attempts for 350 yards, with three touchdowns. John Seigler led the Carthage rushing attack with 95 yards on 23 carries. Andre Alvarez led the Carthage defense with 12 total tackles, including a quarterback sack.

Carthage took a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Nick Merchut with 11:04 to play in the first quarter. Wheaton cut the Red Men lead to 7-3 thanks to a career-long 47-yard field goal by Scott Roche with 8:36 left in the first quarter and 37-yard boot by Roche cut Carthage's lead to 7-6 with 3:02 left in the first quarter.

Roche's third field goal of the game was a 41-yard kick that gave Wheaton a 9-7 lead with 12:12 left in the second quarter. Carthage regained the lead with 7:18 left in the second quarter when Tyler Funk kicked a 20-yard field goal. With just 20-seconds left in the first half, Norris threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Danny Hindman to give Wheaton a 15-10 lead. Following Hindman's touchdown Wheaton made a two-point conversion to increase its lead to 17-10. Carthage used three plays in the closing seconds of the first half to get Funk in range for a 52-yard field goal that he converted as the half finished to make it a 17-13 Wheaton lead at halftime.

Wheaton increased its lead to 24-13 on the first drive of the second half as Norris threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Hindman with 12:24 remaining in the third quarter. Funk kicked a 20-yard field goal with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter to cut the Thunder advantage to 24-16. Jones ran into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run with 3:57 left in the third quarter to cut Wheaton's lead to 24-23.

Carthage regained the lead with a five-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Merchut as the Red Men took a 29-24 lead with 9:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. Wheaton took a 30-29 lead when Norris connected on a 31-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Freddy Ellis with 1:45 left in the game. The Thunder was unable to convert on the two-point conversion that followed Ellis' touchdown. Carthage marched the ball down the field on a seven-play drive of 60 yards that was culminated by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Jeff Koeneman with 39-seconds left in the game to give the Red Men a 35-30 lead. Wheaton attempted six plays in the final 33-seconds of the game, including a long pass near the end zone that was deflected by a Carthage defender as time expired, as the guests earned the victory.