Wheaton dominates Rose-Hulman 49-0 in a total team win (Boxscore)

Wheaton, Ill. (9/21) - The Wheaton College Thunder

(1-1) received an impressive team effort today in a 49-0 win against the

overmatched Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1-2) at Wheaton's McCully

Field. This was Wheaton's largest margin of victory since a 69-6 win over

Anderson University (Ind.) in the second game of the 1998 season, 38 games

ago. Today also marked Wheaton's first shutout victory in 49 games, dating

back to a 55-0 win at North Park in the eighth game of the 1996 season.

Wheaton will travel to Hope College next Saturday for a noon (CST) kickoff

in Holland, Mich., in a game that will be broadcast on WETN radio 88.1 FM

and on the Internet at www.wetn.org.

On 95 offensive plays the Thunder amassed 548 yards of total offense and

Rose-Hulman had just 140 yards of offense in 47 plays. Wheaton tallied 304

rushing yards on 61 carries as five different Thunder players carried the

ball for more than 30 yards. The hosts also completed 23 passes to 10 different

receivers for 244 yards. Rose-Hulman tallied just 140 yards of total offense

with 65 rushing yards on 20 carries and 92 passing yards on 12 completions.

Junior quarterback Chad Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) completed

18 of his 27 passing attempts for the Thunder with 176 passing yards and

two touchdowns. Sophomore tailback Garrett Granberg (Blanco, Texas/Blanco)

was Wheaton's leading rusher with 81 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.

Junior Dan Price (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer) gained 45 yards on

eight carries with one touchdown. Starting tailback Mike Whalen (Wimberley,

Texas/Wimberley) left the game after the first drive with an injury, but

tallied 44 rushing yards on seven carries with a touchdown on that drive.

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

was Wheaton's top receiver with five catches for 59 yards and one touchdown

reception.

Pictured

left: This interception return by Jeff Mumm was a part of a big day

for the junior linebacker with one sack and six total tackles against Rose-Hulman.

Junior linebacker Jeff Mumm (Grapevine, Texas/Colleyville) led the

staunch Thunder defense with six total tackles (four solo), two tackles

for lost yardage (-9 yards). Mumm also tallied a quarterback sack (-7 yards)

with an interception (-15 yards) and a pass break-up. Senior Shawn Wildt

(Victoria, Texas/Victoria) and junior Jason McDearmon (Morrison,

Ill./Morrison) each made five total tackles (four solos).

The scoring started for the Thunder on the opening drive when Whalen reached

the end zone on an eight-yard TD run with 10:33 to play in the first quarter

to give Wheaton a 7-0 lead. Whalen accounted for 40 of Wheaton's 65 yards

on the 11-play opening drive. With 2:20 to play in the opening quarter senior

fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista) recorded a 29-yard

touchdown reception from Bradley to give the hosts a 14-0 advantage. Noonan's

catch capped a nine-play drive of 70-yards that lasted 3:47.

With 13:16 to play in the second quarter Granberg scored on a three-yard

touchdown run, capping a six-play drive of 45 yards. Granberg gave Wheaton

a 28-0 lead with 6:35 to play on a two-yard touchdown run that capped a

12-play drive of 85 yards. With 00:52 left in the first half Musso caught

a 12-yard touchdown toss from Bradley to give Wheaton a 35-0 lead that it

would hold at halftime. Musso's catch capped a 10-play drive of 53 yards

for the Thunder.

With 1:21 left to play in the third quarter Price scored on a four-yard

touchdown run to cap a four-play drive of 35 yards. Wheaton's final score

came with 9:03 left to play in the game when sophomore Mark Hamstra

(Palos Heights, Ill./Chicago Christian) scored his first career touchdown

on a six-yard run for the 49-0 final score. Hamstra's touchdown capped an

eight-play drive of 55 yards.