Numerous Mistakes Cost Wheaton Football Chance to Win; Falls 30-26 to Millikin

(Wheaton, Ill./Oct. 18, 1997) -- In CCIW football action on Saturday, Oct. 18, Millikin University defeated Wheaton, 30-26. Wheaton's records fell to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in conference this season, and Millikin improved to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in conference with 3 consecutive victories.

Wheaton does battle at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington for its next CCIW game, Saturday, Oct. 25, at 1:30 PM, and that game will be broadcast live on WETN-88.1 FM radio. The Millikin game also was videotaped by Jones Spacelink cable TV and may be viewed on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Oct. 20, 22, and 24, at 7:00 PM each night, on Channel 32, WJIC, in the Wheaton cable area.

Wheaton totalled 392 yards of offense, including 295 passing, and junior quarterback Tim Hardy completed season-highs of 27 passes in 45 attempts with 3 throws going for touchdowns. Receiver Brian Tucker caught a career-high 14 passes for 182 yards and touchdowns of 5 and 7 yards, and sophomore receiver Ben Peays caught 8 passes for 58 yards. Wheaton's leading rusher was junior tailback Bjorn Johnson with 14 carries for 70 yards and a 37-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Millikin gained 322 total yards, including 194 yards passing by freshman quarterback Tim Brylka, from Wheaton-Warrenville South High School, who completed 13 of 29 passes for 2 touchdowns of 6 yards to Mike Orwig in the second quarter and 56 yards to Mike Hawks just 2:13 later, giving Millikin a 23-7 halftime lead.

Fullback Jamen Williams rushed 16 times for a career-high 128 yards and 1 touchdown, and gained 54 yards on one play that set up his own one-yard plunge that gave the Big Blue a 30-7 lead with 12:31 left in the third quarter.

Wheaton got off to a fast start when it drove 84 yards on 7 plays on its first series of the game, with Johnson covering the final 37 yards for the touchdown. But Millikin countered with a 40-yard field goal by John Hughbanks, and a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Benny Graham with 5:10 left in the first quarter, and the touchdown passes from Brylka to Orwig and Hawks early in the second quarter.

Down 30-13 after 3 quarters, Wheaton mounted a comeback that brought it to a final 30-26 margin. Wheaton North High School graduate Jay Westra caught his first collegiate touchdown pass, an 18-yarder from Hardy, with 5:45 left in the game, and the extra point made the score 30-20. Tucker then caught a 7-yard touchdown from Hardy with 1:59 left, his fifth scoring catch of the season, but senior Paul Boehms caromed the extra point off the left upright, so Millikin led 30-26, and Wheaton was forced to attempt an on-side kick which was recovered by Orwig at the Wheaton 46, allowing Millikin to run out the clock.

Wheaton consistently shot itself in the foot throughout the contest. It lost the interception for a touchdown in the first quarter, and lost 2 fumbles, once when a punt hit the Wheaton return man, Ben Peays, in the leg, and the other time when strong safety Jerry Hawkes scooped up a Millikin fumble at the Millikin 22 near the end of the third quarter, raced 17 yards and then attempted to lateral the ball as he was being tackled at the 5-yard line. Millikin recovered the loose ball at the 5 and given new life, ran off another 3 minutes off the game clock. Millikin fumbled 5 times in the game, and Wheaton recovered just once.

Wheaton also had an apparent touchdown pass called back when it was called for offensive interference but fortunately scored its last touchdown of the game 8 plays later.