Miscues plague Wheaton in 26-17 loss to #15-Millikin (Boxscore)

Pictured

left:

Safety Bob Bollweg made a team-high 13 total tackles to lead the Thunder defense

in a homecoming loss to Millikin

Wheaton,

Ill. (10/6) - The #15-ranked Millikin Big Blue used a solid

defense and took advantage of nine Wheaton turnovers to beat the Thunder 26-17

this afternoon at Wheaton's East McCully Field. Millikin improves its record

to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while Wheaton falls to 2-3 overall

and 1-1 in CCIW action.

The Wheaton

defense played well in spite of seeing a great deal of time on the field.

Millikin held onto the ball for 34:40, to 25:20 for the Thunder. The Big Blue

held onto the ball for 18:04 of the 30:00 second half. Millikin amassed 324

yards of total offense on 82 plays with an average of four yards per play,

while Wheaton tallied 325 yards of offense on 68 plays for an average of 4.8

yards per play. Four of the 10 turnovers committed by the Thunder offense

were on the first play of an offensive drive to bring the Wheaton defense

back on the field shortly after it had just left. Millikin scored 19 of its

26 points today as a result of Wheaton turnovers.

Millikin

took a 6-0 lead with 8:31 left in the first quarter when Brandon Witte

caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Donnell Brown. The

Millikin touchdown was setup by a Wheaton interception that was returned 19

yards by linebacker Dan Potempa, 46 yards and six plays later Witte

reached the end zone. Wheaton kicker Grant Tillotson (Wheaton, Ill./North)

cut the Millikin advantage to 6-3 with a 21-yard field goal with 3:02 left

in the first quarter. Wheaton took a 10-6 advantage when freshman wide receiver

Brad Musso (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) caught an 11-yard pass

in the end zone from junior quarterback Josh Anderson (Claremont, Calif./Claremont).

Millikin took a 13-10 advantage with 7:00 to play in the second quarter when

Ryan Miller caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brown. With 00:09

to play in the first half Millikin kicker Andrew Beals gave the guests

a 16-10 advantage with a 37-yard field goal that was setup when Millikin's

Jacob Fry intercepted a Wheaton pass at the Thunder 18 yard line and

returned to the Wheaton 23.

Beals gave

the guests a 19-10 advantage with 6:52 to play by kicking a 27-yard field

goal that was set up when Millikin's Jason Harvey intercepted a Thunder

pass at the Wheaton 10-yard line. Wheaton cut the Millikin lead to 19-17 when

Anderson found Andrew King (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) on a

five-yard pass in the end zone that capped a 13-play drive of 80 yards. King's

touchdown was set up four plays earlier on a 37-yard pass from Anderson to

junior running back Mike Whalen (Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley). The drive

following King's touchdown stalled for the Big Blue and Wheaton had a big

opportunity with 9:59 to play in the game and the ball on its own 28-yard

line. On the first play of the drive Anderson found Jonathan Wills

on a 16-yard pass reception, but Wills fumbled the ball, recovered by Millikin

on the Thunder 42 yard line. Six plays later Millikin running back Deon

Packer was in the end zone on a nine-yard touchdown run that gave the

guests a 26-17 lead with 7:20 to play. Wheaton's next drive got to the Millikin

37-yard line, but the fifth Thunder interception of the day came at the Millikin

22-yard line and stalled the critical drive.

Wheaton

defensive backs Bob Bollweg (Wheaton, Ill./North) and Shawn Widlt

(Victoria, Texas/Victoria) each made 13 total tackles with one pass broken

up. Junior linebacker Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa/Ames) and made 12 total

tackles with nine solo tackles. Senior cornerback Bryan Ittersagen

(Wheaton, Ill./North) made eight total (six solo) tackles with two passes

broken up and one interception. Ittersagen's (PICTURED RIGHT) interception

was a stellar grab near the end zone that prevented the Big Blue from taking

a 25-10 advantage with 5:53 to play in the third quarter.

Whalen rushed

for 50 yards on 13 carries, with three receptions fro 75 yards. Wills was

Wheaton's top receiver, catching five passes for 85 yards. Josh Anderson completed

18 passes on 38 attempts for 255 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.

Packer led

the Big Blue rushing attack with 93 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown.

Brown completed 18 passes on 32 attempts with two touchdown passes and one

interception. The versatile Big Blue QB also ran for 45 yards on 12 carries.

Miller caught six passes for 68 yards with one touchdown reception. Potempa

made eight total tackles and added two tackles for lost yardage (-11 yards),

one sack (-10 yards), two passes broken-up and the 19-yard interception return.

Harvey made three interceptions with one fumble recovery, while Jamie Luzinski

made and interception and recovered a fumble.