Wheaton beats Augustana 38-14 for CCIW Championship and NCAA Playoff berth (Boxscore)

Wheaton, Ill. (11/16) - The Wheaton College

Thunder defeated defending CCIW Champion Augustana 38-14 this afternoon at

McCully Field to win the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)

Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

Wheaton ends the regular season with a 9-1 record and an unblemished 7-0 CCIW

mark, while Augustana concludes with a 7-2 overall record and 6-1 in conference

play. The NCAA will announce tournament pairings on Sunday and information

will be posted on this website between 4:30 and 5 PM Central time on Sunday.

The victory was Wheaton's ninth consecutive win after opening the season with

a 23-16 loss at Alma College in the first game of the season on Sept. 14.

Wheaton came into today's game ranked 16th in the American Football Coaches

Association (AFCA) Coaches Poll and Augustana was 10th.

This is Wheaton's second CCIW Championship in three years after

a conference crown in 2000. The trip to the playoffs is the first for the

Thunder since 1995. Today's win was the third consecutive Thunder victory

over the Vikings, marking the first time Wheaton has beaten the Vikings for

three straight seasons since 1954-57 when Wheaton picked up four consecutive

victories over the foes from Rock Island.

Wheaton's defense did a sensational job in quieting the vaunted

Viking running game that accumulated 101 yards on the ground and just 146

yards of total offense. The Thunder offense had 375 yards of total offense

in the game with 199 rushing yards and 176 passing yards. Augustana came into

today's game third in Division III on total defense, holding opponents to

202.9 yards per game and Wheaton was second in total offense with 514.8 yards

per game. The Vikings also came into the game with the fourth-ranked rushing

offense in Division III with an average of 326 yards per game.

Junior

Dan Price (PICTURED LEFT) carried the ball 19 times for 83 yards with

two touchdowns and sophomore Garrett Granberg carried the ball 14 times

for 67 yards with one touchdown to lead the Thunder running game. Wheaton

quarterback Chad Bradley completed 13 of his 23 pass attempts with

two touchdowns and one interception. Sophomore wide receiver Brad Musso

caught three passes for 73 yards with a touchdown catch of 43 yards. Senior

Jonathan Wills had four receptions for 54 yards with a touchdown catch.

Senior linebacker Justin Knapp recorded 10 total tackles

with seven solos, a pass break-up and a tackle for lost yardage (-2 yards).

Senior defensive end Jeff Darnauer made eight total tackles with a

quarterback hurry and junior defensive back Ty Gose made seven total

tackles with a tackle for loss (-2 yards). Junior Jason McDearmon,

senior John Diggs and junior Tom McAndrews each made five total

tackles.

Viking running back Kyle Zick carried the ball 11 times

for 41 yards with a touchdown, while Brad Felten had nine carries for

28 yards and Tukes Ayangbile carried the ball eight times for 22 yards.

Quarterback Brad Wendell completed five of his 18 pass attempts for

45 yards with one interception and a touchdown run. Viking linebacker Steve

Szpejnowski made a game-high 13 total tackles with one quarterback sack

(-8 yards) and two tackles for lost yardage (-9 yards). Junior Brad Dahl

and Justin Georgacakis each made eight total tackles for Augustana.

Wheaton took a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game when

Wills caught a seven-yard pass from Bradley with 10:18 to play in the first

quarter. Wills' first touchdown catch of the season capped a drive that saw

Wheaton move down the field in 10 plays for 63 yards. On the next drive Augustana

tied the game at 7-7 when Wendell scored on a two-yard touchdown run with

4:19 to play in the first quarter, capping an impressive drive of 52 yards

on 15 plays. With 8:53 to play in the first half Zick scored on a three-yard

touchdown run to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead following an 11-play drive of

60 yards. Zick's touchdown was the Vikings' final points of the game as Wheaton

scored 31 unanswered points beginning with a one-yard touchdown run by Price

with 7:20 to play in the second quarter. Price's touchdown capped a four-play

drive of 43 yards that was setup by a 34-yard kickoff return by freshman Muhammad

Weusi following the Zick touchdown.

The

game was tied 14-14 at halftime and remained at that score until freshman

Andrew Day gave Wheaton a 17-14 lead on a 24-yard field goal with 5:29 to

play in the third quarter to cap a 16-play drive of 64 yards that lasted 7:11.

Granberg gave Wheaton a 24-14 lead when he scored on a 30-yard touchdown run

with 1:22 left in the third quarter to cap an eight-play drive of 70 yards.

Musso caught his 11th touchdown of the season with 14:45 to

play in the game on a 43-yard pass from Bradley to improve the Wheaton advantage

to 31-14. With 9:23 to play in the game Price reached the end zone for the

second time with a seven-yard touchdown run to give Wheaton a 38-14 lead that

would hold until the end of the game. Price's touchdown was setup when senior

defensive end Chad Isaacson (PICTURED LEFT) hit Wendell and forced

a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Dane Lundgren (PICTURED

RIGHT) who picked the ball up at the Augustana 22-yard line and returned it

to the seven and Price scored on the very next play.