Thunder continue to roll in a 39-20 win at #18-ranked Millikin (Boxscore)

LEFT: Tailback Dan Price stepped into a key role today as he came off

the bench to rush for 157 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns.

Decatur, Ill. (10/12) - The Wheaton football team

earned its most important win of the season in an impressive 39-20 win at

#18-ranked Millikin this afternoon. The win is the fourth straight for Wheaton,

as the team improves to 4-1 over and 2-0 in the College Conference of Illinois

and Wisconsin (CCIW). The Big Blue fall to 4-1 and are now 1-1 in the CCIW.

This is Wheaton's first win over Millikin since 1999 and its first win at

Frank M. Lindsey Field since 1996. Wheaton will host Carthage next Saturday

in a 1 PM game at McCully Field, while Millikin will be at Elmhurst.

Today's Thunder victory was impressive for many reasons. The

Big Blue marched out to a 17-0 lead, but the Thunder battled back with 26-unanswered

points in the first half. Another key factor for Wheaton was its depth. Starting

tailback Mike Whalen (Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley) was injured on Wheaton's

first drive of the game and his backup, Garrett Granberg (Blanco, Texas/Blanco)

sat out today's game following an injury he suffered last week. Junior Dan

Price (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer) stepped in for Whalen and the Thunder

offense did not miss a beat as he carried the ball 28 times for 157 yards

with three touchdowns. Another player that stepped up from reserve to a prominent

role today was sophomore defensive back Mike Lindberg (Wheaton, Ill./North)

who made five total tackles with a pass break up. Lindbergwas converted into

a defensive back this year after playing at wide receiver for the Thunder

last season.

Wheaton has racked up big offensive numbers this season, as

it came into the contest ranked fourth in Division III in total offense, and

today was no different. The Thunder amassed 540 yards of total offense on

75 plays, for an average of 7.2 yards per play with 291 passing yards and

249 rushing yards. The Big Blue defense entered today's game ranked ninth

in Division III in rushing defense, holding opponents to 66 yards per game

on the ground. Millikin gained 301 yards of offense with 194 passing yards

and 107 rushing yards.

Wheaton's depth was most evident in its running game, led by

Price's 157 yards. Sophomore fullback Drew Thornfeldt (Nampa, Idaho/Nampa

Christian) carried the ball six times for 54 yards with one touchdown and

two catches for 15 yards. Senior fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert

Vista) carried the ball eight times for 36 yards, with a 17-yard touchdown

run and one catch for 14 yards. Junior quarterback Chad Bradley (Wheaton,

Ill./Wheaton North) completed 11 of his 20 passing attempts with one touchdown

for 222 yards. Sophomore receiver Brad Musso (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale

Central) caught five passes for 153 yards and one touchdown. Junior Andrew

King (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) caught five passes for 33 yards.

The

Thunder defense gave a strong performance today as it held a Millikin team

that came into the game ranked 18th in Division III in total offense with

450.8 yards per game and 15th in rushing offense with 247.3 yards per game.

Senior linebacker (PICTURED LEFT) Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa/Ames) led

Wheaton with 11 total tackles, and a tackle for lost yardage (-5 yards). Senior

defensive back Shawn Wildt (Victoria, Texas), Lindberg and junior Ty

Gose (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) each made eight tackles. Junior

linebacker Jeff Mumm (Grapevine, Texas/Colleyville Heritage) made six

total tackles with two assisted tackles for lost yardage (-13 yards) and an

assisted quarterback sack (-8 yards) Senior linebacker Kevin Sellers

(Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista) also added six total tackles.

Millikin quarterback Donnell Brown completed 15 of his

27 passing attempts for 166 yards. Ryan Corley was the leading Big

Blue rusher with 36 yards for three yards. Michael Marker led the Big

Blue in receiving with 81 yards on three catches. Matthew Phillips

was the leading tackler for the Big Blue with nine total tackles and Jason

Harvey made eight total tackles with two tackles for lost yardage (-11

yards).

Millikin's scoring started early in the game when Marker caught

a 66-yard pass from Brown to give the Big Blue a 7-0 lead with 13:58 to play

in the first quarter. The hosts made it a 14-0 advantage with 11:16 to play

in the first quarter when Mike Kenders scored on a one-yard run. Kicker

Andy Beals booted a 32-yard field goal with 8:41 to play in the first

quarter for a 17-0 Big Blue advantage. The Thunder began to battle back with

8:03 to play in the first quarter when Bradley connected with Musso for a

66-yard touchdown toss to cut the Millikin lead to 17-7. With 5:03 to play

in the first quarter Price scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 19-yard

scamper into the end zone. With 1:58 to play in the first quarter Noonan gave

Wheaton a 20-17 lead on a 17-yard run into the end zone.

Wheaton continued its string of 26-unanswered points when Price

scored on a 25-yard touchdown run to give the Thunder a 26-17 lead with 14:00

to play in the first half. Millikin cut the Thunder lead to 26-20 with 00:28

to play in the first half when Beals kicked a 28-yard field goal. Thornfeldt

stretched the Thunder lead to 32-20 with 8:20 left in the third quarter to

play when he scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Price's third touchdown of

the day gave Wheaton the final 39-20 score when he reached the end zone on

a seven-yard touchdown scamper.