Game #6 Crusaders post a dramatic 22-20 win at Illinois Wesleyan

Bloomington, Ill. (10/23) - The Wheaton College

football team improved its record to a flawless 6-0 on the season and 4-0

in the CCIW with a 22-20 win at Illinois Wesleyan University this afternoon.

Wheaton spoiled the Titans' homecoming thanks to Chris Baughman 's (Fort

Morgan, Colo./Fort Morgan) 20-yard field goal with 0:09 left in the game.

Wheaton entered the game ranked 15th in this week's AFCA Division

III Coaches Poll, while the Titans fall to 4-2 on the season and 2-2 in CCIW

action. Today marked the fourth consecutive time the Crusaders have won in

Bloomington when they were the Titans' homecoming opponent. It also marks

the third win in the past three seasons by the Crusaders over Illinois Wesleyan.

Wheaton now owns a 22-21-2 advantage in the all-time series with Illinois

Wesleyan. The Crusaders are the CCIW's only team without a loss this season,

following #16-ranked Millikin's 7-6 loss to Carthage at home this afternoon.

Wheaton head coach Mike Swider said of the gritty effort

put forth by his team, "We have a lot guys that are hurt. We have 75 guys

on our roster and probably 50 healthy bodies." Swider continued, "The great

thing about Wheaton is we have kids coming to Wheaton from all over the United

States. They are not coming to Wheaton College because of me - they are coming

to Wheaton College from all over America because there is something greater

happening there." Wheaton has three games remaining on their schedule with

Millikin next Saturday, at Elmhurst College the following week and at home

against Augustana to close the season. Swider remarked about his team's season

to this point and the three games left, "we have three football games left

and we could lose any one of them if we don't play. You can't get too full

of yourself after a win and you can't get too consumed after a loss. I have

said it before and still believe that it is going to be very difficult for

a team to go through the league unbeaten."

Wheaton got on the board with 8:01 left in the first quarter

when quarterback Mitch Slater (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) found wide receiver

Jeremy Amos (Austin, Texas/Westlake) on a nine-yard touchdown pass

for the 6-0 lead. Wheaton made it 13-0 at the 14:16 mark of the second quarter

when Brian Pastermack (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island) reached

the endzone on three-yard touchdown run that capped a four-play, 48-yard drive.

With 9:16 left in the second quarter Slater connected with senior Jay Westra

(Wheaton, Ill./North) on a 69-yard touchdown toss that gave Wheaton a 19-0

advantage and capped a three-play drive. The Titans got on the board late

in the first half with 0:33 left in the second quarter when Brian Shemansky

threw a three-yard TD pass to Shawn Emerson to close the Wheaton lead

to 19-7 at halftime.

Early in the fourth quarter Shemansky found Rob Pendergast

on a five-yard touchdown toss to cut the Wheaton lead to 19-13. At 6:58 left

in the game the Titans took their first lead of the game at 20-19 when Shemansky

found Dominic DeGustino on a 13-yard touchdown toss that capped a nine-play,

64-yard drive. On the next drive Wheaton marched all the way down to the Illinois

Wesleyan 15-yard line when the Titans at their own five-yard line recovered

a Wheaton fumble with 5:04 left in the game. The Titans then put together

a six-play drive that included a first down, but was stalled at the IWU 20-yard

line when senior linebacker Mitch Clement (Garden City, Kan./Garden

City) sacked Shemansky. Wheaton regained the ball at its own 49-yard line

with 1:31 left in game following the Titans' punt. At third down with 15-yards

to go on the final drive Slater had a 21-yard run to get Wheaton to the Illinois

Wesleyan 35-yard line. On the next play Pastermack got the Crusaders to the

Titans' 22-yard line with a 13-yard run. Slater then connected with Jeremy

Amos (Austin, Texas) on a 17-yard pass that put the Crusaders at the IWU

five-yard line. Wheaton then fumbled on a run, but recovered the ball. At

the 00:09 mark Baughman hit the game-winning field goal.

The Wheaton offense amassed 394 yards of total offense with

an average of 5.6 yards per play. The Crusaders notched 122 rushing yards

and passed for another 272 yards. Mitch Slater was 15-40 passing on the day

with one interception and 272 passing yards with two touchdowns. The 272 yards

through the air was Slater's highest passing yardage total this season. Westra

was Slater's leading receiver with 122 yards on four catches with one touchdown.

Senior wide receiver Ben Peays (Austin, Texas/Westlake) had four catches

for 84 yards. Pastermack had 15 rushes for 81 yards and one touchdown. The

Wheaton defense was paced by senior defensive back John Peays (Austin,

Texas/Westlake) with 11 total tackles (seven solo). Linebacker Greg McMillin

(Nampa, Idaho/Nampa Senior) added 10 total tackles (seven solo) and defensive

lineman Derek Flynn (Houston, Texas/St. John's) notched nine total

tackles (six solo) with two tackles for lost yardage (-11 yards) and a sack

(-7). The Illinois Wesleyan offense posted 343 yards of total offense for

4.0 yards per play on the day. The Titans ran for 114 yards and passed for

another 229 yards in the loss. Shemansky passed 229 yards on 26-45 passing

with two interceptions. Max Milinkovich was the Titans' leading rusher

with 47 yards gained on the ground. Shawn Emerson had eight catches

for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Zac Williams had eight catches

for 60 yards. Adam Toelkes led the Titans' defense with six total tackles

with two tackles for lost yardage (-4 yards).

The Crusaders will host Millikin in another critical CCIW game

next Saturday at 1:00 PM. The Big Blue will come to East McCully Field with

a 5-1 overall record and a 3-1 CCIW record.