Wheaton Thunder Football 2001 Game Stories Wheaton upsets #6 Augustana (Ill.) 34-32 on final play (Boxscore)

Wheaton, Ill. (11/10) - It took the entire 60 minutes, but

the Wheaton College Thunder upset #6-ranked Augustana (Ill.) this afternoon

34-32 in the final game of the regular season for both teams. With 1.4-seconds

left in the game sophomore quarterback Chad Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./North),

making his first collegiate start, reached the end zone on a five-yard bootleg

run as the game ended. Bradley's game-winning touchdown was necessary due

to a 10-play drive of 75 yards that gave Augustana a 32-28 lead with 45-seconds

to play. It was a tension filled game that saw seven lead changes, including

five in the fourth quarter. Wheaton ends the season with a 6-4 overall record,

5-2 CCIW record and its fourth consecutive winning record and ninth in 10

seasons. It was the second year in a row the two teams played a thriller as

Wheaton defeated Augustana 37-30 in two overtimes last season in Rock Island.

Augustana concludes the regular season with a 9-1 overall record and a 6-1

conference record. The Vikings tie Illinois Wesleyan, also 6-1 in CCIW play,

for the conference championship. Augustana earns the CCIW's automatic bid

to the NCAA Division III playoffs by defeating Illinois Wesleyan earlier in

the season.

The two teams

combined to amass 727 yards of total offense. Wheaton had 375 yards of total

offense with 205 rushing yards and 170 yards through the air. Augustana ran

for 328 yards with 352 yards of total offense. The Wheaton defense did a nice

job against the vaunted Viking rushing game. The Vikings had two long runs

of 60 and 74 yards. With those plays removed from the Vikings' yardage total

the guests tallied 190 yards on 51 carries.

Junior running

back Mike Whalen (Wimberley, Texas) led Wheaton with 129 rushing yards

and three touchdowns. Bradley completed 12 passes on 21 attempts for 170 yards

and ran for 24 yards with the game-winning touchdown run. Junior linebacker

Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa) led the Wheaton defense with 15 total tackles,

while sophomore linebacker Tom McAndrews (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles)

made 10 total tackles with one forced fumble. Senior defensive lineman Eliot

Thomasma (Stevensville, Mich.) made 10 total tackles with two tackles

for loss (-9 yards) and one sack for (-7 yards).

Augustana

running back David Chorney ran for 170 yards on 20 carries with two

touchdowns. The talented Chorney set Augustana's single-season rushing record,

with 1,320 yards on the season. Roy Fritz led the Viking defense with

11 total tackles and two tackles for lost yardage (-3 yards).

Augustana

took a 7-0 lead with 8:43 to play in the first quarter when David Zemke

scored on a three-yard touchdown run that capped a nine-play drive of 49 yards.

Wheaton cut the Viking lead to 7-6 with 9:11 to play in the first half when

fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista) scored on a one-yard

touchdown run that capped a seven-play drive 41 yards. The Wheaton defense

did a solid job of holding the top rushing offense in Division III in the

first half of the game as Augustana held a 7-6 lead at halftime. At the intermission

the Vikings had rushed for 93 yards on 23 carries.

The scoring

began early in the second half and did not end until the final play of the

game. Wheaton took a 12-7 lead with 13:55 to play in the third quarter when

Whalen scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 28-yard run that that

was set up when Augustana fumbled the ball on its own 27 yard line. The Thunder

took an 18-7 lead when Whalen reached the end zone on a three-yard run with

10:55 to play in the third quarter. Whalen's touchdown capped a three-play

drive that started at the Wheaton 33 yard line and was setup by a 19-yard

run by Noonan (PICTURED LEFT) on the first play of the drive and a 41-yard

pass from Bradley to Andrew King on the second play. Augustana cut the lead

to 18-13 when Chorney tore through the Wheaton defense for a 74-yard touchdown

run with 9:59 to play in the third quarter. The Vikings regained the lead

when Chorney scored on two-yard run to give the guests a 19-18 advantage with

2:53 to play in the third quarter. The Chorney touchdown was on a five-play

drive of 28 yards that was set up when Wheaton fumbled the ball at its own

28-yard line. The Thunder regained the lead at 21-19 when sophomore kicker

Grant Tillotson (Wheaton, Ill./North) booted a 35-yard field goal through

the uprights with 14:11 to play in the game. The Vikings regained the lead

with 8:54 to play in the game when Chris Beard scored on a 60-yard

run for the Vikings. Whalen gave the Thunder a 28-25 lead with 4:19 to play

in the game when he scored on a one-yard touchdown runs to cap a 12-play drive

of 67 yards. Augustana countered on the next drive of the game when quarterback

Brad Wendell scampered into the end zone on a nine yard touchdown run

with 00:45 to play in the game, capping a 10-play drive of 75 yards that lasted

3:33. On the next drive junior Bryant Wolfsberger (San Juan Capistrano,

Calif.) returned the kickoff 25 yards to the Wheaton 29-yard line. The next

two plays were Bradley passes of eight yards that gave the Thunder the ball

on its own 45 yard line with 00:22 left in the game. On the next play Bradley

scampered 18 yards to the Augustana 37 yard line and was hit out of bounds

by a Viking player, and the guests were charged with a critical 15-yard penalty

to give Wheaton the ball on the Viking 22-yard line. Bradley found receiver

Randy Rosen on a 17-yard pass to give Wheaton the ball on the Viking

five-yard line with six seconds left. On the next play a Bradley pass to Brad

Musso fell incomplete to give Wheaton one last chance to reach the end

zone with 1.4 seconds left on the clock. The final play of the game saw Bradley

fake a handoff up the middle and bootleg to his left and reach the end zone

with two Viking tacklers trying to stop him to no avail.