Gridders drop their season opener 23-16 at Alma (Boxscore)

Alma, Mich. (9/14) - The Wheaton football

team opened its season today with a 23-16 loss at Alma College. The Thunder

offense was able to tally some impressive numbers, but Alma capitalized on

Thunder turnovers and made some key defensive stops to hang on for the win.

Wheaton opens the season at 0-1 and Alma is now 1-1. The Thunder will return

to action next Saturday when the host Rose-Hulman at 1 PM on McCully Field.

Next Saturday's game will be broadcast on WETN radio, 88.1 FM and on the Internet

at www.wetn.org.

Wheaton

started the game with the ball and its opening drive stalled. The Scots got

the ball on their own 42-yard line and used nine plays in 3:39 to drive into

the end zone for a 7-0 advantage. Alma took a 14-0 advantage with 14:46 to

play after capping a nine-play drive of 35 yards with a 16-yard touchdown

pass from Steve Slowke to Mark Boehms. The Alma drive to the

end zone started on Wheaton's 35-yard line due to a Thunder fumble. Wheaton

began to battle back with 10:31 left in the first half when freshman Esteban

Lopez (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) booted a 29-yard field to cap a six-play

drive of 43 yards that cut the Scots' lead to 14-3. With 8:12 left in the

first half junior quarterback Chad Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North)

found sophomore wide receiver Brad Musso (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central)

on a 47-yard touchdown pass to cut the Alma advantage to 14-10. Musso's catch

capped a four-play drive of 59 yards for the Thunder. With 1:53 to play in

the first half senior fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert

Vista) scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give Wheaton a 16-14 advantage,

but a bad snap on the ensuing point after attempt was recovered by the Scots

and returned for two points to make it a 16-16 tie. Noonan's (PICTURED LEFT)

touchdown capped a 12-play, 63-yard drive that lasted 4:32 as the Thunder

methodically moved the ball downfield.

In the second half Wheaton had scoring opportunities, but was

unable to capitalize. The first missed chance came when Wheaton marched the

ball to the Scots' 19-yard line early in the third quarter, but Bradley's

pass was intercepted at the 11-yard line to stop the Thunder drive. Late in

the third quarter Wheaton missed its second field goal of the game, this was

a 32-yard attempt that would have given the Thunder a 19-16 lead. The Scots

took the lead for good after the missed field goal, marching down the field

with an 85-yard drive that was setup by a 43-yard pass and a 28-yard touchdown

run by quarterback Alan Montgomery for a 23-16 Alma lead. A Thunder

fumble on the Alma 46-yard line with 14:03 to play in the game cost Wheaton

another scoring opportunity.

Wheaton's final scoring chance came with 5:37 to play in the

game with a drive that started on the Thunder 18-yard line. Bradley completed

six passes and marched the Thunder down the field to the Alma 14-yard line

with a first down. Bradley tossed a 26-yard pass to Musso that got the Thunder

to the 14-yard line. At that point the Wheaton offense stalled with a run

for a loss of one yard and then there was an incomplete pass that set up a

third down with 11 yards to go. Bradley found Noonan on a complete pass, but

the Thunder fullback was tackled six yards behind the line of scrimmage for

fourth down with 17 yards for a first down on the Scots' 21-yard line. Alma's

Josh Geoghan intercepted Bradley's pass at the Scots' 15-yard line to secure

the game for the hosts.

Bradley completed 27 passes on 46 attempts for a career-high

354 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Senior Jonathan Wills

(Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) caught 10 of Bradley's passes for 130 yards,

including a long reception of 40 yards. Musso made five grabs for 117 yards

with the 47-yard touchdown catch. The tandem of Wills and Musso (PICTURED

LEFT) made 15 catches, some of which were spectacular, for 247 of Wheaton

354 passing yards. Senior tailback Mike Whalen (Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley)

ran for 92 yards on 15 carries. Sophomore Garett Granberg (Blanco,

Texas/Blanco) ran for 31 yards on 15 carries. Noonan made five catches for

64 yards and ran for five yards on three carries with a touchdown run.

Defensively, Wheaton held the Scots to just 265 yards of total

offense. Junior linebacker Jeff Mumm (Grapevine, Texas/Colleyville)

made 13 total tackles with a tackle for lost yardage (-2 yards). Fellow linebacker

Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa/Ames) made nine total tackles with with a

forced fumble. Defensive end Jeff Darnauer (Goodland, Kan./Goodland)

made seven total tackles. Senior defensive tackle Dane Lundgren (Arden

Hills, Minn./Mounds View) played well as he recorded four quarterback sacks

(-17 yards).

The Scots ran for 118 yards today and passed for 147 yards.

Jeremy Droptiny was Alma's leading rusher with 50 yards on 11 carries

with one touchdown. Starting quarterback Steve Slowke completed 13

passes on 21 attempts for 81 yards with a touchdown. Slowke was knocked out

of the game in the third quarter and replaced by Alan Montgomery who

completed six passes on 10 attempts for 66 yards and ran twice for 34 yards

with a 28-yard touchdown scamper. Gavin Fralick was Alma's leading

tackler with 10 total tackles and a pass deflection.