Wheaton football advances to Second Round of Division III Playoffs with a 76-14 victory against Crown

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College Thunder football team took on the Crown College Polars in the First Round of the NCAA DIII Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Wheaton's McCully Stadium. This is the first-ever matchup between the two programs and the first-ever playoff appearance for the Polars, who received an automatic bid by winning the UMAC conference. Wheaton would advance to round two after beating Crown 76-14, displaying strength in all three facets of the game. Wheaton will travel to Waverly, Iowa, next Saturday to take on Wartburg College in Round Two of the DIII Football Playoffs at noon.

It took only three plays for scoring to begin in today's contest. A squib kick from Crown set the Thunder up at their own 45-yard line. Mark Forcucci found Seth Kortenhoven for a gain of 21 yards early. Two plays later, Wheaton was set up in a pistol formation, and they called play-action as Forcucci rolled out to the right and found Caleb Titherington for a 31-yard touchdown pass, giving Wheaton an early 7-0 lead.

The ensuing drive, Wheaton forced a three-and-out thanks to the efforts of senior Peter Johanik, adding to his all-time tackle for loss (TFL) total with a sack. As the Polars' punter prepared to send it away, Tiger Cannon broke through the line, blocking the punt, which Brett Dieter recovered and returned for a touchdown. A failed two-point try made the score 13-0.

Early on, the 'Orange and Blue' gave the Crown quarterback little room to breathe, recording three sacks in the road team's first two possessions, both resulting in three-and-outs. Johanik once again got home for a sack along with Maxton Leathers and Rex Kroger, who combined for a sack.

The second offensive drive of the game for Wheaton also resulted in a touchdown. Three of Forcucci's four completions, this drive went for 14 or more yards, and the hosts found themselves at Crown's seven-yard line. Two-consecutive rushes from tight end Ben Juska later, and Wheaton found paydirt when he scored on a three-yard run.

Another three-and-out for the Polars' offense forced a punt thanks to a combined sack from Zeke Harris and Chandler Bryant. Once again, Cannon and Dieter burst through the line of scrimmage, blocking the punt for the second time in today's contest. Dieter was able to block the punt, and Cannon returned it two yards for the score, giving each of them a block and a score in today's action.

A gain of 32 yards put Crown in good field position early in their drive before Owen Downing and Zeke Harris combined for Wheaton's fifth sack of the contest. The following play, Grady Gann undercut a throw towards the sideline, getting his first interception of the season.

Matt Crider continued the momentum, starting the following drive with a 32-yard rush, getting Wheaton to the Crown 16-yard line. Two plays later, Forcucci found Juska for the score, Juska's second total score of the game, giving Wheaton a 33-0 lead.

Crown pushed down the field on a 12-play, six-minute drive ending in a score. Quarterback Jamarrius Courtney had 43 rushing yards and capped the drive off with a 31-yard touchdown completion.

The following drive, Forcucci found Titherington for a gain of 20 yards and Malachi Jones on an angle route for a 22-yard gain. Jones would have two more rushes for a gain of 16. The drive was capped off by another rushing touchdown from Juska, who bounced a dive outside to the left and ran in for the score, untouched, making the score 41-7.

Wheaton got possession for the final time in the first half. Forcucci found Juska twice on this drive. Once up the seam, Juska went up to grab and held on despite a tough hit from the Crown safety. The second one resulted in a score on play-action, where Juska leaked out and Forcucci found him for an easy score, making the score 48-7 at the end of the first half.

A strong stand on fourth-and-one from the Thunder defense gave the hosts great field position at the Crown 35-yard line on Crown's first offensive drive of the second half. After an 18-yard rush from Juska, Trent Gabriele punched it in from the one-yard line for a 54-7 Wheaton advantage.

Crown drove down the field thanks to the efforts of Courtney on the ground, which got the Polars down to the Wheaton 28-yard line. Courtney heaved the ball down the field to his man, Carteyae Gordon. Gordon and the Thunder defensive back both got hands on it, but Gordon ultimately gained possession of the football before he fell out of bounds for a Crown touchdown.

Seamus O'Connell took the helm for Wheaton on the following drive and led them down the field for their ninth touchdown of the contest. Thanks to a 22-yard return from Riley Howard, the hosts started their drive at the Crown 36-yard line. A 15-yard rush from Malachi Jones got the Thunder down to the one-yard line. O'Connell found Kortenhoeven just outside the bottom left pylon, capping off the drive with a score.

Crown took possession and on their second play, rolled out right and passed to their receiver out wide. The pass hit off his hands and found Joseph Bracy, who was already sprinting forward to make a tackle. Bracy took it back for six with ease, creating a 69-14 advantage for Wheaton.

The next Wheaton drive, O'Connell connected with Sam McFadden for a gain of 23 yards where McFadden gained eight extra yards after contact. A few plays later, O'Connell scored on a QB sneak, which gave Wheaton a 76-14 advantage and was the final score of today's contest.

Wheaton's offense recorded 513 total yards, averaging 8.3 yards per play, and converted five of seven third downs. The Thunder also showed great discipline committing only two penalties throughout the game.

Forcucci passed for 214 yards, completing 14 of his 16 attempts, which was good for an 88% rate, along with three passing touchdowns. O'Connell completed all five of his passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. Kortenhoeven led all receivers in catches today with six for 51 yards and a touchdown. Juska recorded three catches for 46 yards and two touchdowns, and Caleb Titherington led all receivers in yards with 81 on four catches, reeling in a touchdown of his own.

On the ground, Juska had 39 yards on four attempts, punching in two touchdowns on the ground as well.

As a unit, the Wheaton defense forced three turnovers and dropped the Crown quarterback six times. Harris led the Thunder defense in total tackles with 10. Caleb Coburn and Luca Torti each had seven and six, respectively. The Wheaton defense recorded 13 tackles for loss in today's contest. Johanik led the way, recording three. Kroger, Harris, and Bryant each had 1.5. Cannon, Torti, Ethan Brunner, and Ephraim Nitz each had one, and Downing,

Coburn, and Maxton Leathers each had 0.5. Johanik also led in sacks with two. Brunner and Harris each had one, and Downing, Leathers, Bryant, and Kroger each had half a sack. Gann, Bracey, and Cannon each recorded an interception.

Note Worthy: The 76 points scored by Wheaton is the most by the Thunder in the program's 32 NCAA Division III Playoff Games, and the 62-point margin of victory is also the most…with his effort today, Johanik has improved his first-place standing with 57.5 career tackles for loss…with two sacks today, Johanik moved into fourth place on the program's all-time sacks list with 29.5 as he surpassed David Hoover's (1992-95) 28 career sacks.