Football opens 2010 with a 17-6 victory at Albion

Albion, Mich. - The Thunder football team opened its season on Saturday afternoon with a 17-6 victory under wet conditions at Albion College. Today's victory extended Wheaton's non-conference winning streak in the regular season to 24 games dating back to the second game of the 2002 season. Wheaton is now 1-0 on the season and will host its home opener next Saturday at 7 PM against Wisconsin-Platteville.

Senior tailback Rocky Gingg carried the ball 36 times for 185 yards and the game's lone touchdown. With his performance today, Gingg became the 12th-player in school history to run for 2,000 career yards. The senior has now run for 2,182 rushing yards in his three-plus seasons at Wheaton, which moves him into 10th place on the school's all0time rushing list.

Junior Garrett Meador completed nine of his 19 passing attempts for 186 yards. Junior receiver Teddy Watkins caught a team-best three passes for 57 yards and Freddy Ellis caught two passes for earl59 yards, including a game-long 52-yard reception.

Brian McMullen led the Thunder defense with nine total tackles, including four tackles for lost yardage (-11 yards). McMullen also forced a pair of fumbles, recovered a fumble and had a pass break-up. Linebacker Richard Jacobson tallied seven total tackles; while Robert Ramsay and Charley Mitchell each recorded six tackles. Senior cornerback Tyler Langs had an interception, with a pass break-up.

Albion running back Clinton Orr carried the ball 22 times for 66 yards and quarterback Spencer Krauss was 14-33 passing for 123 yards. Aaron Dolkowski led the Albion defense with six solo tackles and seven assisted tackles.

The rain began to come down about two hours before game time today and the persistent drizzle continued throughout the game. Wheaton head coach Mike Swider noted after the game, “People have no concept of how hard it is to play your first game against a team that has played a game. We beat a good football team today on the road in these weather conditions.” He continued, “In the first half we made some first game mistakes and in the second half I thought we settled down.” Swider concluded, Rocky had a great game and I was pleased with how we played defensively. I thought our defensive line did a great job.”

Albion attempted to punt on fourth down of its first drive of the game. However, the snap sailed past punter and out of the end zone for a safety that gave Wheaton a 2-0 lead with 9:25 remaining in the opening quarter. Albion took a 3-2 lead with a 22-yard field goal to open the second quarter, however, Wheaton regained the lead late in the first half thanks to a 32-yard field goal by Scott Roche. Roche's field goal allowed the Thunder to hold a 5-3 lead at halftime.

Albion regained the lead when the Britons kicked a 30-yard field goal with 2:02 left in the third quarter to give the hosts a 6-5 lead. With 19-seconds remaining in the third quarter, Gingg reached the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run to give Wheaton an 11-6 lead. Gingg's touchdown was setup two plays earlier when Meador tossed a 52-yard pass to Ellis who streaked down the sideline to the Britons' 12-yard line.

Holding the lead in the fourth quarter, Wheaton held onto the ball for 10 of the quarter's 15 minutes. Gingg carried the ball 15 times for 72 yards in the quarter as the Wheaton ground game setup two more Roche field goals. Roche booted a 22-yard kick with 9:26 left in the game to extend the guests' lead to 14-6 and he kicked a 31-yard field goal with 1:03 remaining in the game.