Wheaton gridders win fifth in row, defeating Carthage 36-6 (Boxscore)

PICTURED LEFT: Senior tri-captain Justin Knapp led

a Thunder defense that held the top rusher in DIvision III to 96 yards on

26 carries with no touchdowns.

Wheaton, Ill. (10/19) - The Wheaton College

Thunder (5-1/3-0 CCIW) picked up a fifth straight victory with a 36-6 win

over Carthage (2-4/1-2 CCIW) today at Wheaton's McCully Field. The Thunder

will travel to Bloomington next Saturday for a 1 PM kickoff at Illinois Wesleyan

and Carthage will be at North Central.

The Thunder played very well today in holding the Redmen to

238 yards of total offense. Carthage came into the game ranked second in the

CCIW and 27th in Division III in total offense with 429 yards per game. The

Redmen came into the game averaging 32.4 points per game and today's six points

was the fewest scored by Carthage this season. Carthage's Randal Baker

came into the game as the leading rusher in Division III with 187 yards per

game. Today Brown carried the ball 26 times for 96 yards, averaging 3.7 yards

per carry.

Senior tri-captain Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa/Ames) led

the Thunder defense with 13 total tackles, an assisted sack (-5 yards) and

an interception. Linebacker Kevin Sellers (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista),

senior defensive tackle John Diggs (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights)

and defensive back Ty Gose (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights) each

made eight total tackles. Mumm made 2 tackles for lost yardage (-11 yards)

with a blocked field goal attempt that he returned 32 yards to setup a field

goal that was Wheaton's first points of the game. Diggs recorded a team-high

2 tackles for lost yardage (-7 yards).

Sophomore receiver Brad Musso (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale

Central) made nine catches, some of which were spectacular, for 185 yards

with two long touchdown catches. Senior quarterback Josh Anderson did

a nice job of filling in for the injured Chad Bradley. Anderson completed

22 of his 34 attempts for 293 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns.

Junior tailback Dan Price (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer) carried the

ball 22 times for 101 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry with three touchdowns.

Carthage

quarterback Patrick Brown passed the ball 16 times on 31 attempts for

97 yards with one interception and he rushed for 55 yards on eight carries

with one touchdown run. Randal Baker carried the ball 26 times for

96 yards. Carthage fullback Mike Ripper had seven catches for 41 yards.

Senior linebacker Ray Hartmann made 22 total tackles with 10 solo tackles

and a quarterback sack (-8 yards). Junior linebacker Clint Evans made

11 total tackles with an interception and freshman linebacker Mike Pelkowski

made nine total tackles with a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.

Following Carthage's blocked field goal by Mumm late in the

first quarter freshman Esteban Lopez (Claremont, Calif./Claremont)

kicked a 23-yard field goal to give Wheaton a 3-0 lead with 14:54 to play

in the second quarter. Price gave Wheaton a 9-0 halftime lead when he scored

on a two-yard touchdown run with 24-seconds to play in the first half. Wheaton

made it a 15-0 lead on the first drive of the third quarter when Musso (PICTURED

RIGHT) caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Anderson with 12:25 to play in

the third quarter. With 6:30 to play in the third quarter Musso and Anderson

connected again on 44-yard touchdown pass for a 21-0 Thunder advantage. Price

gave the hosts a 29-0 lead with 11:28 to play in the game on a 16-yard touchdown

scamper. Carthage put its first points of the game on the scoreboard with

6:07 left in the contest on a 19-yard touchdown run by Patrick Brown. Price

reached the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown run with 1:59 to play in the game

for the 36-6 final outcome.