Gridders open the season with a 35-24 win over Alma (Boxscore)

Wheaton, Ill. (9/13) - The Wheaton College Thunder, ranked fourth

in this week's D3Football.com Top 25, jumped out to a 28-10 halftime

lead and defeated Alma College 35-24 this afternoon at East McCully Field in

Wheaton. Today's game was a re-match of the first round meeting between the

two teams in the NCAA Division III Playoffs last year, won by Wheaton 42-14.

Wheaton (1-0) will be at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology next Saturday at

1:30 PM, while Alma (0-1) will host Manchester College next Saturday afternoon.

The Thunder racked up 441 yards of total offense, averaging 6.1 yards per play

with 269 rushing yards and 172 passing yards. Alma had 411 yards of total offense,

with 220 rushing yards and 191 passing yards. Junior tailback Garrett Granberg

(PICTURED ABOVE LEFT) ran for 118 yards on 18 carries, while fellow tailback

Dan Price carried the ball 13 times for 95 yards, as Wheaton's two-tailback

attack racked up 213 yards on the ground. Wheaton's fullbacks played well in

many facets of the offense. Junior fullback Drew Thornfeldt score twice

in the red-zone for the Thunder, tallying 19 yards on five carries and Skip

Ast carried the ball four times for 20 yards with a one-yard touchdown run.

Senior quarterback Chad Bradley was 10-23 for 172 yards with one touchdown

toss. Junior Colin Sinclair caught two passes for 77 yards with a 67-yard

touchdown catch, while senior Andrew King had six catches for 59 yards.

Senior

linebacker Jason McDearmon (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder defense with

nine tackles, including a tackle for lost yardage. Senior Michael Drach

made eight total tackles with an interception and a tackle for loss. Senior

linebacker Jeff Mumm made eight total tackles with two tackles for lost

yardage and a pass break-up. Senior linebacker Tom McAndrews came up

big with six total tackles, a quarterback sack and a forced fumble.

Alma quarterback Josh Brehm completed 25 of his 37 passes for 191 yards

with one touchdown and two interceptions, while he also ran the ball 22 times

for 125 yards. James Edgington carried the ball six times for 68 yards

with one touchdown. Receiver Aaron Bradley caught six passes for 70 yards

with one touchdown. The Alma defense was led by Tom VanThomme with 12

total tackles and a pass break-up. Tom Montgomery made nine tackles with

an interception and Kevin Vermeersch recorded eight tackles with a tackle

for loss and an interception.

Wheaton started the scoring with 5:28 to play in the first quarter when Thornfeldt

scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give the Thunder a 7-0 lead. The key play

in the 10-play drive of 85 yards was a 34-yard run by Price. Alma reached the

scoreboard with a field goal, as 14:50 remained in the first half for a 7-3

Thunder advantage. Wheaton took a 14-3 lead with 10:53 left in the first half

when Ast scored on a one-yard run to cap an eight-play drive of 55 yards. Alma

countered with 7:15 left in the first half when Edgington scored on a 17-yard

run to cut the Thunder advantage to 14-10. On the first play of the next drive

Bradley connected with Sinclair on a 67-yard pass to expand the hosts' edge

to 21-10. Wheaton made it a 28-10 lead as halftime neared when Bradley scored

on a six-yard run with 11-seconds left in the first half to cap a lengthy 13-play

drive of 67 yards.

The Thunder increased its lead to 35-10 with 8:49 to play in the third quarter

when Thornfeldt scored in a three-yard run. Thornfeldt's TD was setup by Wheaton's

pressure on Alma punter Kevin Veermesch who could not get a punt off from the

Scots' endzone and he was forced to run the ball and was unable to achieve a

first down and Wheaton earned the ball at the Alma 26-yard line. With 3:19 left

in the third quarter Brehm found Aaron Bradley on a five-yard touchdown

pass for a 35-16 Wheaton advantage. With 6:00 left in the game Brehm found Joe

Galardi on a six-yard touchdown pass to make it a 35-24 game. The Scot's

final drive of the game started at their 31-yard line with 3:48 left in the

game. Alma made it into Wheaton territory when Drach intercepted a Brehm pass

at the Thunder 28-yard line with 3:02 left in the game, as the Alma quarterback

was under considerable pressure from defensive end Tim Cryer. Wheaton

managed to run out the clock and emerge with the 35-24 victory.