Brian Pastermack runs Thunder to 29-24 win over Carthage (Boxscore)

Wheaton,

Ill. (10/14) Wheaton College (4-2/3-1) ran its way to the team's fourth victory

of the season in a 29-24 win over Carthage College (3-3/0-3) today at home.

Today the Thunder ran for 285 yards on the ground, behind a career-high 220

rushing yards by senior halfback Brian

Pastermack (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island) with two touchdown scampers.

Pastermack (PICTURED LEFT) touched the ball 20 times for an average of 11-yards

per carry with a long run of 64-yards for a touchdown, while four of his carries

were for over 20 yards. Thunder fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert

Vista) added 45 rushing yards on six carries with one touchdown.

Wheaton

entered today's battle with the Redmen owning an average of 108.6 rushing

yards per game. Today was Wheaton's best rushing effort of the season and

the first time the club has ran for more than 125-yards since the squad gained

233 yards in its season-opening win at St. Xavier. Wheaton head coach Mike

Swider said of his team's efforts rushing the ball, "We ran the ball

well today, but they (Carthage) were daring us to run the ball." Swider

added, "If we can start to run the ball like we did today that will make

things easier on our two sophomore quarterbacks."

Sophomore

quarterback Josh Anderson (Claremont, Calif./Claremont)

made his first collegiate start for the Thunder with eight completions on

14 attempts with 172 yards through the air and one touchdown toss. Sophomore

wide receiver Jonathan Wills (Mahomet,

Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) had two catches for 85 yards with one touchdown reception.

Senior team captain Jeremy Amos

(Austin, Texas/Westlake) made three catches for 62 yards on the day.

Senior

linebacker J.D. Leman (Champaign, Ill./Central) led the Thunder defense with

nine total tackles (seven solo). Leman (PICTURED RIGHT) Also recorded three

tackles for lost yardage (minus-four yards). Freshman free safety Grant

Tillotson (Wheaton, Ill./North) tied Leman for the team lead in total

tackles with nine (six solo) and an interception. Junior strong safety Bob Bollweg (Wheaton, Ill./North) made

seven total tackles (four solo) with two quarterback sacks (-15 yards), while

sophomore defensive tackle Jeff Darnauer

(Goodland, Kan./Goodland) also made seven total tackles with six solos.

Carthage

running back Randal Baker ran for 94 yards on 24 carries

with a touchdown to lead the Redmen offense. Quarterback Patrick Brown completed 16 passes on

34 attempts for 155 yards with three interceptions and two touchdowns. Six

of Brown's passes were to sophomore Rob

Garnes who tallied 81 receiving yards with a touchdown. Carthage middle

linebacker Cameron Ridley led the

guests' defense with 13 total tackles (nine solo), while Clint Evans had seven total tackles (five solo) with two quarterback

sacks (minus-11 yards).

Wheaton

fullback Noonan gave the hosts a 6-0 lead with a one-yard touchdown run with

7:15 left in the first quarter that capped a seven-play drive of 62-yards.

The ensuing point-after attempt failed as Wheaton held a 6-0 lead. Carthage

took a 7-6 lead with 1:19 left in the first half when Brown found Scott

Steger on a two-yard pass. The touchdown was setup by a 37-yard punt return

by Conor Glascot that gave the Redmen the

ball on the Wheaton 15-yard line and two plays later Steger was in the end

zone.

Both

teams had an outburst of offense in the second half that was started by a

28-yard field goal by Carthage's Jeff Grybash that gave his team a 10-6

lead with 11:28 to play in the third quarter. Pastermack made it 13-10 in

favor of Wheaton on his 64-yard touchdown run as he eluded several Carthage

linemen and linebackers on his way to the end zone with 5:30 to play in the

third quarter. After the next drive stalled for the Redmen Wheaton quickly

countered with a 46-yard touchdown toss by Anderson to Wills as the hosts

took a 20-10 advantage with 4:07 left in the third quarter. Baker helped Carthage

close the Wheaton lead when he made a five-yard run into the end zone as the

guests trailed 20-17 with 00:13 left in the third quarter.

Wheaton's

All-American field goal kicker Chris Baughman (Fort Morgan, Colo./Fort

Morgan) made it 23-17 when he kicked a 27-yard field goal with 10:15 left

in the game. Baughman's kick through the uprights capped a 12-play drive of

73 yards that was setup thanks to three Pastermack rushes for 54 total yards.

Carthage regained the lead late into the game when Garnes caught a 25-yards

pass from Brown in the end zone to cap a 73-yard drive that took 12 plays

and gave the Redmen a 24-23 lead with 4:53 left to play. Pastermack capped

his career-day when he reached the end zone on a seven-yard run that gave

Wheaton a 29-24 lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed. Carthage

gave it one last effort, but Brown's second pass attempt of the drive was

intercepted by Tillotson with 1:04 to play at the Wheaton 49-yard line to

give the Thunder the victory.

Wheaton

will return home to McCully Field next Saturday when it hosts Illinois Wesleyan.

The game is scheduled for a 1 PM kickoff and can be heard on WETN-radio 88.1

FM and on the Internet at http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn.